June 30, 2024

Not Fair

How to tell it’s going to be a bad day.

1. You start brushing your teeth with muscle relaxant cream.

2. You see the 60 Minutes news team in your office.

3. You realize the hair spray you just used was really your new can of hair-removal spray.

4. You turn on the news and they’re showing emergency routes out of the city.

5. You come out to find your car parked right where you left it, but there are no tires on it.

6. Your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell’s Angels on the freeway.

7. Your boss tells you not to bother to take off your coat.

8. Your income tax refund check bounces.

9. You get passed on your morning jog by a little old lady with a cane.

10. You look down to see you have on one black shoe and one brown shoe and you remember seeing another pair just like them in your closet before you left home.

If you’ve ever had a truly rotten day, please know that Joseph can relate. He knows what it is like to have everything go wrong despite his best efforts.

So lean in, start reading and let’s see how Joseph handles his truly rotten day.

Joseph, the Faithful Employee is Wrongly Accused.

Genesis 39:1 ESV

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

So if you remember correctly Joseph is sold by his brothers as a slave. The traders take Joseph town to one of the biggest economies of the area and sold him as a slave in Egypt.

Today we think of slavery as wrong. In the Biblical world it was perfectly normal to own a slave.

Nevertheless Joseph was sold as slave to an important man. The scripture refers to him as “Captain of the guard” the man in charge of the guards around the pharaoh.

Genesis 39:2–6 ESV

The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

It’s amazing we see the transformation of the character of Joseph. He goes from being the bragging brother to a responsible hardworking servant. But of course the scripture points out that it is a little more than that. The Lord is with Joseph and gives him success in everything he does.

Potiphar is blessed because of Joseph.

Genesis 12:3 ESV

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

He quickly realizes that things simply work better when Joseph is in charge and he turns over management of the whole house to Joseph.

This reminds me of a passage I was thinking about this week.

1 Peter 2:12 ESV

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

We should live our lives with excellence so that people see us and want to trust us with more.

We should work hard and with wisdom at work.

We should be trustworthy friends and good neighbors.

We should wise in how we manage our money.

We should always be tactful and careful in what we post online.

Genesis 39:6–12 ESV

6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. 11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.

Think about it Joseph at this time was in his mid 20s successful and had a lot of authority. And he was also unattached handsome and well built. And in this moment he could have been tempted to take a relationship that wasn't his. After all paper had given him control of everything in the house. And in many different situations men who accumulate power and control make the mistake of thinking they deserve more than they do.

Have you ever gotten to that point where you feel like you've put in the work and you deserve a break. You don't have to keep a high moral standard for a moment you could let your guard down. That's the temptation that sin puts out to us often. And sometimes these mountaintop moments are the points where we are most vulnerable. When everything is going well we can think we deserve to be able to do something that's wrong.

And in those moments often you don't think that you're being a bad person you're just taking a break. But Joseph realized that this was align align he could not cross.

Potter for his wife asks him to have marital relationships with her. And he declined. He holds up a proper view of marriage and a God live view of sin knowing that it's an action against God.

And notice in verse 9 how he makes that explicit he understands that this would be a sin against God.

We need to remember that no matter how tempting sin is in our lives it's a sin against God. And it's also something that can havoc in our lives. And so Joseph does the right thing saying no to this woman. But then one day she gives him no alternative trying to corner him and make him do what she wanted.

Joseph faced the perfect storm. He goes into the house to do his work and no one is there.

Have you ever faced that temptation in your life? No one's looking. No one will know if you do the right or the wrong thing period no one will know if you look at that thing. No one will know if you do that thing with that girl. No one will know.

And in that moment potiphar's wife forcefully tempts Joseph. She literally catches him by the garment and says lie with me. Have marriage relationships with me. And in that moment Joseph does the best thing he could possibly do, he gets the heck out of dodge.

So what does the Bible teach when it comes to temptation? What's the best response?

So in proverbs chapter 5 Solomon writes along section about this example of a woman who goes out of her way to tempt a young man to sin. This woman is a caricature an example of temptation. She does everything she can to trick and lure a young man aside.

And solomon's first and most important warning to this young man is simply this:

Proverbs 5:8 ESV

8 Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,

Solomon doesn't tell the young man to resist her to stand strong to be firm. He simply tells him to keep away. To stay away from the doorway to her house.

Studies have shown that the human brain quite literally has a limited amount of willpower. You can only will yourself to do something or choose to do something for so long before you get tired. That's why you're a lot more likely to lose your temper or say something you regret having an important conversation late at night. That's why those of you who are who are children you're likely to get in a fight with your sister after a long trip or when you're close to bed because you don't have leftover willpower. We're still responsible for our actions but we only have so much capacity to choose to not do something tempting. It's simply a mental muscle we can only use so much. Now this doesn't excuse us but it requires us to be wise in our choices.

That's why Solomon teaches the young man who is tempted to not go near the House of the woman who is tempted. He might be able to go past it 20 times and then one day he's fighting off a cold or he's exhausted from a day at work and the temptation comes by and he's gives in because he doesn't have more willpower left.

That's why in our lives we need to set boundaries and have things that we choose not to do. If it is a struggle for you and you have to choose not to over drink. Then perhaps you need to set more boundaries about when you do and don't drink or perhaps you don't drink at all whatsoever. If it is a struggle for you in choosing gluttony or choosing to overeat. Perhaps there's things that you just don't keep in your house. If you are a workaholic and you're always working to the detriment of your family you need to set things in your life that will make it easier for you to do the right thing. For Solomon encouraging a young man to live with wisdom meant encouraging him when he sees the House of attempting woman to get away from that house. We need to do the same with temptation in our lives.

1 Corinthians 6:18 ESV

18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

But also one more thing we must remember is that the Bible challenges us to take sexual immorality seriously. Sounds like envy or greed or jealousy or hatred or slander or gossip our different sins that are outside of our bodies. But sexual sins our sins we commit against our body.

Do you realize that you are made in the image of God? Do you realize your body is a temple for the God's Holy Spirit? Do you realize that you are special you are holy you are God's child. No one shouldn't mistreat God's child. Sexual immorality is a sin against God's children. That's why the conversation and our culture today is so crucial. It's so essential that we stand up for and we take seriously the purity that God teaches in his word.

Joseph is Accused Unfairly and Imprisoned

I want you to pay attention here to how Joseph is absolutely a victim of another person's malice. Another person is making his life terrible. And perhaps nothing in our lives is quite as frightening as this right? I mean if you disobey your teacher at school and get in trouble then you say to yourself self I did that I was dumb I shouldn't have done that I won't do it again. But if someone lies about you and says you did an awful thing to someone else then if you can't make the teacher or the principal believe you then you're in trouble for something you didn't do and that's twice as bad as being in trouble for something you did do right?

Joseph was a victim of a false accusation. Perhaps for an adult that's the worst experience that many of us can imagine. Someone accuses you publicly of doing something absolutely wrong. And they accuse you of something that it's only your word against theirs. Can you feel how frightening that would be? Or perhaps you know it. I want you to feel that feeling that sense of injustice that sense of powerlessness and then read through the story of how God is still sovereign God is still in control even when you are the victim of someone else's malicious actions.

Genesis 39:13–18 ESV

13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” 16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”

So Joseph does the right thing and he runs away from temptation. And the only mistake he makes in the moment of running for safety as he leaves his cloak behind. We need to remember this is the second time that a robe gets Joseph in trouble. The kind of clothing that someone wore in that time. Would indicate their status. It would certainly be recognizable as something belonging to Joseph. So she calls out to the men of the household and describes Joseph as a Hebrew. This is meant to be a slur. She says basically that he tried to attack her. And cried out for help and Joseph ran off. And she repeats this story to everyone that would hear her. Talking to her husband she claims that Joseph the Hebrew is mocking her and trying to have his way with her.

Genesis 39:19–20 ESV

19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.

So when you read in this story it's actually kind of surprising how much potiphar doesn't do. He could have exercised right to have Joseph executed immediately. But instead he has Joseph sent to prison period and not just any prison it's the place where the specific prisoners of the king are kept. So it's telling the leniency that potiphar demonstrates both as an example of God's blessing of Joseph and perhaps Potiphars confidence in the character of joseph.

Of course regardless of the mercy shown to Joseph, He still had to bear another injustice done to him.

Now hopefully none of us will get thrown in prison because of a false accusation. And hopefully none of us will get sold by our siblings into slavery and taken to another country. But I would imagine that we will all find times in our lives when we sit down and realize that someone has heard us. That someone has maliciously done something that made our situation worse and there's nothing we can do about it accept to move forward. The question at that point is how do you move forward? Let's take a look at how Joseph lives in his new place in life.

Joseph responds to prison with faithfulness

Genesis 39:20–23 ESV

20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

Did you notice here God is with Joseph even in prison. Even when bad people say lies about Joseph that caused his life to be turned upside down God is still with him. And during his time in prison he becomes a leader of the prison as a prisoner.

No if you were in Joseph's shoes you could have sat down when you got to prison and said to yourself sure it's great that God wants to bless me here but why can't God just make Potter first see that his wife is a liar liar pants on fire. Why couldn't God have kept me from going to prison?

You know we have a lot of these same situations in our lives. We get a chronic illness like diabetes and we wonder why God allowed that to happen. We lose loved one and we wonder why that happened. We get wrongly accused of something and we wonder why doesn't God step in and stop that? God doesn't explain himself but he does assure us of his love.

In these moments in our lives where we are sitting in the prison that someone else has created for us we need to decide then and there to trust God And see how God want us to live and what he wants us to learn where we are at.

Joseph chose to use the gifts he had to serve others in the place he was. Joseph used his gifts to act on the opportunities he had in front of him.

Joseph Interprets Dreams

Here's an interesting reality of the Bible. God sometimes speaks to people through their dreams! Most of the times our dreams are just our brains processing what happened during the day. But sometimes God steps in. And two of Joseph's fellow prisoners have dreams.

Genesis 40:1–4 ESV

1 Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.

So two servants who had a high-ranking position offended the king and were sent to prison. It's most likely that the warden of the prison wanted them to have special care or at least that they needed to be isolated from the rest of the prisoners.

Genesis 40:4–8 ESV

4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody. 5 And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

I love that Joseph doesn't step up and say hey I can do it I can do it. He's humble and says that interpretations of dreams belonged to God. But he was also concerned about other people enough that he was willing to ask. Most of the time people in prison are troubled they're in prison! But Joseph paid enough attention to ask.

Genesis 40:9–15 ESV

9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, 10 and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. 15 For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

So the cut bearer this was the guy that would test the one to make sure there's no poison in it before giving it to a pharaoh. The cup bearer explains his dream to Joseph and Joseph gives him a positive answer. But then he asks a favor that when this cupbearer is released from prison he would asked the pharaoh to being lenient with Joseph too help him get out of prison.

Genesis 40:16–19 ESV

16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, 17 and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” 18 And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

Sadly the Baker doesn't get nearly as positive of an answer.

Genesis 40:20–23 ESV

20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Of the dreams came true for the men and the men that survived failed remember his promise to Joseph.

And so we are going to leave this passage right here. And perhaps it's a very appropriate place to leave this story of Joseph because we too will have moments in our lives where we experience injustice and We don't get immediate relief. We don't get to be in a Hollywood movie where the bad guys lose in the end. Sometimes we get to sit in the middle of the story help people out and then get forgotten. And we still have to trust God.

Conclusion

We need to remember about Joseph is that he lived a life marked by faithfulness. When he was tempted he said no. When he was in prison he kept working and serving. He served with excellence and faithfulness wherever he was at.

Genesis (Applications)

• Do your work in such a way that you become indispensable to your employer.

• Believe that God will use you in his time and do not force your way into situations when you believe the time is right.

• Don’t believe the lie that God is not aware of “secret”. Like Joseph, realize that every is against God, who knows all.

• Have “moral courage” to go along with God’s sovereign work in your life.

Pastor FB Meyer said

Genesis IV. Life Application: Responding to Misfortune

“The child of God is often called to suffer because there is nothing that will convince onlookers of the reality and power of true religion as suffering will do, when it is borne with Christian fortitude.”

Know this, someday you too will be called to suffer some injustice. You will be the victim of a sickness you don't deserve. You will be accused of a wrong you didn't do. It will happen someday. We will all face moments of unfairness mistreatment misfortune and more. Will we respond with faithfulness and trust in God or by complaining and compromising?