Flee

Introduction

On day one of Vacation Bible School this year we focused on Adam & Eve’s fall, the introduction of sin into the human experience.

From that point on, mankind has had a besetting malady that cannot be solved by human means: namely our inherited sin and our personal sin separates us from the thrice holy God of the universe.

Throughout Scripture we see mankind’s sin on display. And, it’s a sad thing. If left like this, we would be without hope.

But, of course, God didn’t leave us in like this!

On day three the kids were shown this passage:

Romans 3:23–24 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Redemption of our sins is only possible through God’s grace, given to all who believe through Jesus Christ.

When we are recipients of this grace, God gives us His Spirit who, among other things, gives us the power to resist sin, and flee from it, which is truly a gift.

This morning we are going to get back into our study of Joseph in Genesis and learn how those of us who are filled with the Holy Spirit can flee from sin, as Joseph did.

Body: Genesis 39:1-23

Verses 1-6a

In chapter 38 of Genesis, we see the what happens when those who are supposed to be God’s people don’t behave like God’s people.

But here is chapter 39, we see the example of one man who determines to put pleasing the LORD before pleasing himself. Joseph is certainly an example to follow.

The ethnic identifier “Egyptian” is used throughout this chapter because it reminds the reader not only of Joseph’s Egyptian captivity, but it should point the reader back to an early prophecy given to Abraham:

Genesis 15:13 ESV

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.

This is the beginning of the time of Egyptian captivity.

The key phrase of Joseph’s entire story is found in verse 2: “The LORD was with Joseph.”

The reader must understand that it’s not anything unique about Joseph that brings him success, but because the LORD is with him.

Why is this important? Because the same LORD is with His people today!

Despite the terrible circumstances he experienced, Joseph is blessed by the LORD.

So much so that even his pagan master recognizes that Joseph is blessed.

In fact, we see two important facts here:

Joseph worked hard...

God’s people should always be hard workers, particularly when we are doing it to benefit others...

Jeremiah 29:7 ESV

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

But it wasn’t simply because of his hard work that he was blessed. The LORD was with Joseph and this resulted in blessing.

Something interesting about that, however. Most of the blessing that Joseph experiences is for other people’s benefits.

What an position to be in: to be blessed so that others will be blessed in greater ways than yourself...

For modern people, this might not make sense. But, when we understand that God’s picture is far grander than our part in it, then it because easier to grasp...

Eventually, Joseph worked himself into a position of being the steward of Potiphar’s property, meaning that it was his responsibility to take care of all the affairs of the household.

It is important to recognize that Joseph didn’t immediately move to this position of authority.

In fact, we will find later that Joseph was thirty when he entered into the service of Pharaoh. He was in prison two year before this. So, we can assume that this incident happened when Joseph was around 28 years old. That’s eleven years of service in Egypt.

For too many young people today, they want it all and they want it now. I don’t believe Joseph would have been all that God wanted him to be without the eleven years of service or the two years in prison he will face at the end of this chapter.

Wait upon the Lord! Seek His will first, and in due time He will show His will in your life.

Doing that lead to even more blessing for Potiphar, which no doubt made him a very happy man.

But all was not well in Potiphar’s house…

Potiphar seems to be living the good life. He didn’t have to worry about anything around the house, other than what he was going to eat when he got back home from work…and, his wife.

Verses 6b-10

Joseph was apparently an attractive young man and caught the attention of Potiphar’s wife.

She wants Joseph to sleep with her.

But this is more than the attempt at seducing Joseph. She’s actually making demands on him as the person in authority within the household when Potiphar was away.

Was there are real temptation here?

I believe so. Joseph is a young man. Sexual temptation has always been one of the strongest temptations that men face.

She was very likely extremely attractive, being the wife of a high ranking official...

Add that to the Egyptian lifestyle, which would have been much more loose and free when it comes to sex, then it would have been tempting for Joseph to “do what the Egyptians” did.

Think of it this way: Take a 17 to 28 year old guy and put him in the middle of Las Vegas. Give him a good job, money and status. Would temptation be something he faced

Obviously, this was a terrible and impossible situation for Joseph.

Joseph recognizes that Potiphar trusts him completely and doesn’t want to betray that trust. But that’s not the greater issue for Joseph.

Joseph is far more concerned about sinning against God.

All sin is against God. In this case, Joseph would be committing a willful sin. While it is true that willful sins hurts our relationships on earth, there is a greater issue of what willful sins says about our devotion to God.

Notice at first this didn’t bring the negative consequences one might have expected.

He stands his ground, and though she continues to have her eye on him and continues to try to seduce him, he is able to withstand her.

By the way, part of this is because other people were around...

Verses 11-18

Joseph’s reaction in verse 12 is the best reaction to temptation that any person could possibly see!

Something to remember when in the midst of temptation: God isn’t going to necessarily take the temptation away. He expects you to resist it.

It does very little good for us if God always steps in and takes the temptation away. Like a parent who attempts to make all the decisions for a child, so it would be if God took all temptations away from us for now.

Notice her response:

She blames her husband;

Her sexual advances to Joseph tell us a bit about the problems in their relationship, but we see it further evidenced in her attitude towards her husband. “You brought him here!”

She makes it a racial thing;

Egyptians didn’t like non-Egyptians, so blaming the Hebrew was an easy scapegoat. (Like blaming Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird…)

She lies;

What does she mean by “to laugh at us”?

Means to “make sport of us”. It’s a euphemism, but probably intended to focus less on her lie that Joseph tried to sexual assault her, but more that he was disrespecting Egyptians, which was more likely to upset the Egyptians.

A wild guess, I think plenty of people knew her character, so suggesting a sexual assault probably would have had them say, “Yeah, right!” This way, it sounds like he’s trying to offended Egyptians as a whole.

Verses 19-23

What was he angry about? What Joseph supposedly did, or his wife’s accusations

Probably both. However, if Joseph would have really tried to assault her, as she suggests, he would face the death penalty. Why such a mild sentence then? Three possible reasons I see:

Jewish tradition states that Potiphar’s wife intervened on Joseph’s behalf, because she still hoped to take advantage of Joseph at a later date.

She didn’t mention the attempt to have sex because he knew her character and that this wasn’t the first time she tried to sleep with another man.

That she did tell him her whole story, but he didn’t completely believe her. So, instead of killing Joseph, he decides to have him locked up.

Talk about wrongfully incarcerated!

In spite of his circumstances, Joseph trusts the LORD and does the work set before him.

God blesses Joseph, even in an incredibly dark place in his life.

Think about it for a second. Twice now Joseph has ended up, through no fault of his own, in horrible circumstances.

Many of us would throw up our hands and give up, or complain to God that this wasn’t fair.

Joseph illustrates the correct response for us when we are wronged and/or facing bad circumstances through no fault of our own: trust the LORD and honor Him through our life, no matter what the circumstances.

Once again, Joseph, through faith in the LORD and hard work, puts himself into a good position.

Yes, not as good as when he was in Potiphar’s house, but good enough.

Again: Life is less about what happens to us, and more about how we respond to what happens to us.

So What?

Joseph calls sin what it is: wickedness in the sight of God

No soft pedaling sin here...

We live in a world of soft-pedaled sin…

Since sexual sin is the issue here I’ll use that as an example, though this is true of all sin: Today what was once called sin or wickedness is now called: “an alternative lifestyle,” “simple experimentation,” “an attempt to cure a lackluster marriage,” and those who call for monogamous martial sex only are called, “out-dated,” “puritanical,” “judgmental,” “racist,” etc.

This is what happens when we soft-pedal sin for too long...

What one generation tolerates, the next generation embraces and celebrates...

You might not find yourself in a similar position as Joseph, being tempted by sexual sin. In fact, you might not be tempted by that at all. But Joseph’s response should be our response to all sin: how could I sin against God!

We justify lying; we justify stealing; we justify course language; we justify gluttony; we justify a lot of things, but they are all sins against God.

Yes, through Christ we are forgiven, but that should not give us an excuse to sin because that is like a slap in Jesus face!

1 Peter 5:8–9 ESV

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Joseph recognizes that sin always hurts others.

Sometimes the pain of sin is delayed, but others are always hurt in the wake.

There is no such thing as a completely self-destructive sin because we live in relationship with other people.

Joseph at just 28 years old already recognized that willfully sinning against Potiphar would have hurt Potiphar in the long run…even if he could get away with it!

Sometimes we think that just because we can get away with sin, it must be okay. Wrong!

Eventually your sins will find you out!

Numbers 32:23 ESV

But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Joseph recognizes that sin is an affront to God.

This should be the most horrific fact of them all…but too often it isn’t.

I remember watching The Passion and thinking about it in this light:

What if I was in front of the cross of Christ, while he hung there dying for me. Would I commit that same act of sin?

Sin is an affront to God. He hates it. And He certainly doesn’t want His people running to sin. He wants us joining Joseph, fleeing sin…even if we have to leave our jacket behind!