Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 120

Psalm 120 ESV

A Song of Ascents. In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree! Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!

Scripture Memorization: Genesis 50:19-20

Genesis 50:19–20 “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:3-16

Matthew 5:3–16 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Sermon:

Good Morning Church! I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the House of the Lord!

This morning we turn our attention back to the focus for the last portion of Genesis and back to the life of Joseph. here we have maybe the most famous story from Joseph's life. the the Saga… The tragedy.… the Narrative of Joseph and Potiphar's wife.

If we Remember, the last time we saw Joseph was in chapter 37. There. The chapter ended.

Genesis 37:36 “Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.”

And we left him in Egypt. We looked at his brother, Judah. HIs Brother Judah’s Folly and his sin. Ultimately, His failure to follow what the Lord had commanded. His failure to be righteous. And so, in many ways, the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife is meant to show us the opposite.

What happens when we follow the Lord's rules? What happens when we try to be Righteous. What happens when we do the right thing?

It will work out for good. However. It may be difficult.

Genesis, chapter 39 we'll start reading in verse 1.

Genesis 39 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. 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. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 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. 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?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. 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, 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. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 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. 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.” Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 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. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” 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. 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. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 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. 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.

Let's pray.

Dear Lord we thank you for your provision, your protection, your Sovereign care. For the love that you have for us. Truly We thank you for the privilege of privilege of knowing you and of being known by you. Of knowing that you hold us and keep us that that our feet May stumble and fall. Yet, you are the one who holds us, who keeps us and protects us. As we reflect on your word as we see your goodness and Grace on display may you enliven our hearts. Help us to understand who you are and what you have done. May we walk in newness of life available to us because of your grace and mercy. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.

Again, this is likely the most famous story in Joseph's life. The one we know about the most. And in one sense, we look at it and and see Joseph triumphing that that he is able to hold fast in the midst of Temptation... And I don't think that's the main point of this story.

To say this bluntly… We see the danger Immoral women can play in the life of a Godly Man.… But I really don't think that's the point of this story.

So we might ask: what's going on here? There's there's a few things.

The first is we, we remember back to last week. There's a reason that these stories are placed where they are in scripture. Moses, when he sat down to write Genesis, could have placed this side note about Judah and Tamar anywhere He could have put it at the end. He could have put it towards somewhere else Before we got to the Joseph part... we could have put it a lot of places. And yet he put it here. Right before Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Why? The first I mentioned this last week. Was to build the tension in Joseph's life. He's in Egypt. And we just pause. We deal with Judah and Tamar, and then we come back. And so we're meant to see that this time in Egypt for Joseph was not short or some mere trifle instead, This is his life. And he's there. Laboring, being a servant. And we find out here while he's been being a servant. He's been doing a fantastic job. That “waiting” is certainly Part of it.

Part of it is that Judah does everything wrong and Joseph does everything right. The hero of the end of Genesis truly is Joseph. The one who is righteous and right, who listens to the Lord who the Lord uses and blesses. It's Joseph. Of all the characters we've seen and we will see in Genesis. Joseph in many ways is the most praiseworthy. If we were to list the sins of all the other People we've seen it gets a bit tragic... Abraham, well, there was a lot. Isaac, actually. He was mostly okay, but he played favorites. He did some bad things. Jacob. In many ways, the worst of the bunch. Even if we go back? Adam, I mean, he sinned first... Noah. His story ended with tragic sin. It's been rough, Joseph. Maybe we could say he was a little bit arrogant and prideful, as he's having these dreams from the Lord. It's really what we could chalk up against him. As we get towards the ends. He'll he'll be a little deceitful. But I would say that, for a purely moral point of view Joseph's the most praiseworthy character here. And this is highlighted when compared with how bad Judah was. That's all part of it.

But ultimately, the reason we see this here... And, you know, stop me if you've heard this before.... Is Joseph's life is teaching us what the Book of Genesis is teaching us, which is “what you intended for evil God intended for good to bring it about that Many should be kept alive as they are today”

The message here is that God is working in the midst of difficulty and tragedy, and others around us are doing all sorts of vile evil things. And yet God is still working. That's the point. How do I know this? Well, how do we start? We start by understanding. It's the Lord who blesses.

The Lord BLESSES

Joseph finds himself in Egypt through no fault of his own. He was beat by his brothers, thrown in a pit going to be left for dead. Judah has the idea. Let's not leave him for dead. Let's sell him into slavery. He’s sold into slavery, marching to Egypt at the hands of the Ishmaelites. To be sold into slavery under potiphar. And yet. We read that the Lord is with him and working in him. Joseph is brought down to Egypt. Potiphar is the one who owns him.. to call a spade a Spade… We're talking about him being a servant… but also that Potiphar bought him.

But then, in verse 2, we read “the Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man.” God is the one who's with him and everything that Joseph will put his hands to, is successful and blessed. Well I will do this over here. It'll grow, and it'll be awesome. Potiphar put me in charge of likely… This is years, if not decades, it is a long process. Potiphar puts him in charge of something. Joseph faithful, hey, you're in charge of this plot of land over here to grow it and harvest it. And he yields a hundred fold. Well, this is a good servant. Hey, now, you're not in charge of just this one field. Why are you in charge of all this over here? And God blesses, and he grows. His hands are successful. Okay, well, you showed your successful here over a couple years. I'm going to put you in charge of this portion of my house. And Joseph, using wisdom and discernment, but also by the grace and goodness of God multiplies. So that he's left with some income, and he grows and multiplies that. Everything. Everything he puts his hands to. Verse 3 “the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands”.

God is with Joseph.

So much so that even potiphar can see this. His master saw that the Lord was with him. Pagan Potiphar is able to see God's blessing on Joseph's life. This is what we will talk about in Grace group this week: that Joseph is so blessed by the Lord that even Pagan, worldly, Godless, potiphar can look at Joseph and be. Like, “man, the Lord is blessing him everything he does”.

The Lord is blessing. How much has God blessed Joseph? so much that Joseph has placed in charge of everything! he's overseer of the house, and he's in charge of all that he had. My house, my income, my my bank account, and my land, my business, and my personal Affairs, all of it, Joseph's in charge of Everything. Potiphar has realized if I want my life to go. Well, I put Joseph in charge of it.

Verse 5 “And so, the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph's sake”

Potiphar, who's already an influential and Powerful man. He's, we've read it. The captain of Pharaoh's guard? The head of the Secret Service of pharaoh. But even more so, he's the head of the Secret Service and also the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He's a powerful man. And Joseph is in charge of all that he has.

In some ways, we could look at Joseph here at this point is maybe the third or fourth most powerful man in all of Egypt. Pharaoh. Maybe Pharaohs. Some of his other servants, but Potiphar's going to be up there in the the second realm. So Pharaoh's top tier Potiphar's second tier. Here's Joseph third tier.

And all this because the Lord is with him. And because the Lord is with him and because the Lord is blessing Joseph and because Joseph is so successful because Joseph is working and the Lord is blessing, and Joseph is working, and the Lord is blessing. It gets to the point where Potiphar has no want for anything. He had all that he had verse 6 in Joseph's charge, and because of him, he had no concern over anything but the food he ate.

And what this is saying is basically like Joseph is, is so. Working things out in Potiphar's life. Potiphar's only concern is. I'm kind of hungry. Do we want Chick-fil-A or McDonald's today? And actually, because he's so successful and so blessed. It's probably more like. What do we want today? My private cook to cook some Lobster or my private cook to cook some sirloin steak? You know, just the real hard and difficult problems. That's what Potiphar's dealing with.

Why? Because the Lord is the one blessing. This will be the key to understanding this whole text that God's the one who's doing this. There are side notes, and there are other important things, but here's the message. The Lord is the one who is doing this for Joseph. And in the midst of this. In the midst of God's goodness in the midst of God's blessing because of God's goodness, because Joseph sees God's blessing, and because he knows and loves the Lord. Joseph. Is faithful.

Joseph is FAITHFUL

Whereas multiple times almost every other character we've seen in Genesis, we look. And they're, like, well, I wish they would have followed the Lord's commands. I wish they would have followed what the Lord said. I really wish they would have done what the Lord said. It would have gone better for them if they had done what the Lord said. Finally, in Joseph, we're like: “he's doing what God Said!”

Verse 6, the second half of it, starts with just a little note. That's rather important. Joseph was handsome, in form And appearance. In all that he does and how he looks. Right, he is. Handsome. He's handsome in form in all that he does and also appearance what he looks like.

Right, he's he's the guy who has it all together. Who's not just good looking, but good looking and successful. And he's also, you know, like, you look at him, you're like, oh, he's a successful beautiful people and because of jealousy and just the world is not fair.. so You want to not like him, and then you talk to him. Like, oh, he's also really nice. There's also like talented, and you look at him and you're like. Hey, do you want to go hang out? Let's go play sports. Maybe I'll be better at sports But no... He's also athletic and better at sports than you. And then, after Sports, you're all sitting around. He pulls out his guitar. He's better guitar than you, and he sings better than you. And he's more handsome than you. He's just a good guy. What's the phrase? - He’s the guy that all the women want and all the ment want to be… something like that… but he’s also godly and righteous and good...

This is basically what we're being told. And because of this, the wife of his master starts lusting after Joseph. Verse 7, she casts her eyes on him and says lie with me.

She attempts to seduce him. And his response is. No. Heck, no! And here's why-

No. Because my master has put me in charge of everything, he's given me everything but you. Why would I go against my master also? More importantly. Verse 9 how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?

Joseph stands for the truth and what is right? I will not go against my master and even more importantly, I will not go against God. And you are his wife. You are not my wife. And so I will not engage. He would not even listen to her

Genesis 39:10 “And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.”

It's not going to happen. He won't even entertain the thought... won't even let the thought creep into his mind. He won't, even in the quiet times where he's alone, think, like, oh, maybe it would be nice... he will not listen to her. He will not even come close to thinking that this might ever be any idea that he could even engage in. So, he's a man handsome in form and appearance and also handsome in action. Indeed, he is a righteous man.

Joseph, the hero we've been longing for. He's the hero we've been waiting for. He's the hero we want. Finally, in Genesis, we even start to think if we go back and we think through, what are the threads... What are the themes throughout Genesis... Well, he's had a dream. He's going to be king and others will bow down to him.... Maybe he's the promised one of Abraham? Is also doing righteous things. Amongst the evil of the world, maybe? Maybe he's not just the promise to Abraham, maybe Joseph's in fact? The one promised to Adam. In the time of Genesis 3, maybe he's finally the seed of woman who will crush the head of the seed of the serpent. Maybe he's the one who will be the one we need here faithful, righteous, beautiful Joseph? Maybe it's him!

Till the other shoe drops and Potiphar's wife lies.

Potiphar’s wife LIES

Starting in verse 11, we have the the tragedy, but also the the bulk of the the movement and action in this in this narrative. Though he's been saying no. And declining all of Potiphar's wives Advances. He won't even listen to her. He finds himself alone with her

Genesis 39:11 “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,”

And so, a lot of people read this, and they're, like, see Joseph, he messed up. He shouldn't have been there. The truth is that he had to do his work. We can avoid a lot of situations, and we should wisely not Place ourselves in situations where sin and Temptation can happen, and we should also be shrewd and not place ourselves in situations where people can claim sin happened… we should be wise. But the way we read this, it's not like, oh, Joseph… this was bad.. he shouldn't do that… No, he went into a house to do the work. He's doing what he needs to do.

But it turns out none of the men of the house are there. They're out doing other things for whatever reason. And Potiphar's wife catches him by the Garment. We're in verse 12. He once again will not. Engage with her. She has his garment. He just leaves it. He, he takes off, and he flees the house. He left the garmant in her hand. This is verse 12, and he fled and got out of the house. Get away from her as fast as you can. This will not end well, just go.

Jealousy stirs in her heart. Hatred stirs in her heart. There is a phrase: “hell hath, no fury, like a woman scorned”. It Finds Its roots in situations and scenes like this. She's going to lie about him.

Genesis 39:14 “she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew”:

Here, the first time we see this word. Describing a people. The people, ultimately, of Abraham. Likely here at its root. It's a, it's a sort of a slur. He's not an Egyptian. He's a Hebrew. Having its roots in traveling people from around the area who had no home. That would be Abraham in the many ways. She means it to describe A nomadic people, an unclean people, an uneducated, uncultured people. Here's this “Hebrew” Joseph. My husband brought this Hebrew. And this Hebrew presumes to laugh at us to think he's better than us. He wanted to lie with me. She's lying. We've read over and over again, she said. Lie with me in verse seven, she said Lie with me. In verse 12. He would not listen to her in verse 10. Yet, her lie is that he said. He wanted to lie. He tried to lie with me. But I cried out.

No, you didn't. No, you did. You grabbed his garment. He ran, you're lying. But she claims that it is truth, in fact, she says, When I cried out, he got so spooked that he might get caught. He ran out forgetting his garment. See, I have proof. I have his garment. He left here.

And the way I interpret and read this story. I think what's happening here, she tries this lie out on the men of the house, and they're like, oh. And we thought Joseph was a good guy, but? You're right, he is a Hebrew should have known better. Those Hebrews will always let you down. Sort of the thought here is “Stinking Joseph”. Can't put him in charge over anything. Hey, you'll think you're doing good and all of a sudden he'll he'll pull the rug out from under you and try and sleep with your wife... So the lie works on these men so...

she tells the same exact lie to her husband, Joseph's master. The commander of Pharaoh's guard, a powerful man in Egypt Potiphar.

the same lie.

The Hebrew servant, whom you brought Among Us verse 17. Came in to laugh at me.

This word laugh is likely a euphemism meaning some sort of sexual assault. Let's put it that way. Some sort of sexual deviancy and abuse. He came in to do some inappropriate stuff with me. It's not like he came into, like, huh, you look fun, like. This is not what we're talking about here.

And Potiphar. In some sense, rightly... Like, we look at Potiphar.… And I will say this... It's, it's good to trust your wife by default. For me, If two people are telling me a story one of them iss my wife and one of them is... anyone else in the world! And they disagree. I will by default believe my wife.

No, I don't think she's perfect. But that's the go-to. Right? So, just so you know? If if you have a quarrel with my wife? She's my wife. I'm going to side with her, so don't think Potiphar is wrong in siding with his wife here, in some sense. But she's lying, and he's believing a lie… Maybe he should have dug in deeper. Maybe he should have understood the nature of what's going on here. He maybe should have pushed her. Maybe he should have asked Joseph what exactly happened… like there's other things he could have done, but the the go-to siding with your wife and having your anger being kindled When your wife says that someone is trying to abuse them... that's.... That's good. His anger is kindled. We read this. Because of how his wife said Joseph treated her.

And so, Joseph's Master verse 20 took him and put him in prison.

So, what do we do with this? Joseph is the one we've been waiting for. Finally, a good hero. Finally, someone doing righteous. Finally, someone standing up. Finally, when faced with Temptation and sin, someone stands up against it and what happens. And their reward for standing up to sin, their reward for fighting Temptation, their reward from fleeing evil. Is being sent to prison.

Something doesn't seem right here.

What we find out is. The Lord still blesses.

The Lord BLESSES

Though all around Joseph is evil, he finds himself in Egypt against his will. Works hard, works his way up, and Potiphar's. House, but then. Through no fault of his own. Potiphar's wife sets her affection - her inappropriate affection - on him. Lies about him, and he finds himself in prison.

Every other character in Genesis we are used to this roller coaster of ups and downs… Joseph's life is a roller coaster, too. It's not his fault. God gives him dreams. Brothers sell him into slavery... doing good in Potiver's house… Now, he's going into prison...

But what happens in prison? The Lord blesses him.

Verse 21. But. The Lord.

In the English language. This is the phrase that should cause our heart to leap with the most Joy. In the New Testament, we read it, but God. Here, but the Lord.

Doesn't matter. It does not matter the end of the day that Potiphar's wife is lying and Potiphar believed him. Because the Lord was with Joseph. the Lord showed him steadfast love. This is... the the word for steadfast love: “HESED’” This is covenantal love and faithfulness. The Lord was with him. Steadfast love, Covenant, deep seated, rooted love.

And favor - not just God’s fav or, but favor with those around him… God's with him and God's still blessing. And so now, the the captain of the prison is experiencing the same sort of joy and ease of life that potiphar did. Now, we get to the point when. The keeper of the prison, right? We're fast forwarding here. All of this likely took some time, but verse 22, The Keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all of the prisoners who were in prison.

Everywhere Joseph finds himself… and this will continue… everywhere Joseph finds himself he gets elevated to the position of highest Authority. How much Authority did Joseph have in prison?

Genesis 39:22 “Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.”

The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge.

Because the Lord was with him, the Lord still blesses. The Lord is still keeping the Lord is still. Using this, the Lord is still faithful to Joseph, though around him are lies and deceit, though around him is slander and. People not caring for him or respecting him in the way he deserved, though around him, is hatred and loathing God is blessing Joseph.

And so we end with this thought: whatever he did the Lord made it succeed.

Praise be to the Lord. Who blesses and keeps who is with Joseph?

Though around him were deceit and lies God still blessed.

Though around him were people who did not care for him. The Lord cared for him, and that's better.

Though he keeps finding himself in situations far beyond his ability to control. A slave in Potiphar's house now in prison. Constant blessing and keeping. God is working this out.

So, why, The ultimate question, then, is Joseph in prison. We end our story here with Joseph in prison. Why?

We could say. That he is in prison. Because he's being punished for doing what's right, and Potiphar's wife wanted him there. We could say that.

But here's the truth, and this is the truth. We know Joseph knows this, because he himself will say it when we get to the end of his story. Why is Joseph in prison? because God wanted him there. Because God needed him there. Because God's working out a Plan of Salvation. Because ultimately, the Snake Crusher will come. Because ultimately, the promised son of Abraham will come. because, ultimately, the one that we need will come. And God is working it out so that the conditions will be perfect for that one to come.

He’s not here. It's not Joseph. It's not yet.

it’s not going to be Moses, who comes next, not yet. Won’t be the judges, it won't be David. Won't be any of the prophets? God's working it out here in Joseph's life so that some thousands of years later. When the fullness of time had come, one will be born. Born under the curse of the law to redeem us from the curse of the law. The perfect one. Jesus, our lord. God is working all of this out so that he can bless. Bless Joseph immediately in this text, but ultimately to bless all of us. Through his son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

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