Genesis 39 - Joseph's Ethics

Ethics is a set of morals or principles. If a person lives by those morals or principles, he is said to be ethical. If a person acts outside of those morals or principles, he is said to be unethical.

Christian ethics are founded upon the moral principles of the Bible. We are called to live the high standard. Joseph was a man, even at seventeen, of ethics. He is an example for us of godly living in an ungodly world.

(1) Joseph’s Work Ethic (39:1-6)

Genesis 39:1–6 AV

And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. 2And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 5And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. 6And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

The concept of slavery, buying and selling people, is repulsive to most of us. We generally think of slavery as the Southern pre-Civil War practice of putting black people out in fields to pick cotton all day and putting them in horrible shacks at night. Our perception of slavery is that was a deplorable practice. Slavery by any definition means giving up personal freedoms to one’s owner. Joseph was not free to work a few months and then move on. He was bound to his master, Potiphar, under penalty of death.

The concept of slavery, buying and selling people, is repulsive to most of us. We generally think of slavery as the Southern pre-Civil War practice of putting black people out in fields to pick cotton all day and putting them in horrible shacks at night. Our perception of slavery is that was a deplorable practice. Slavery by any definition means giving up personal freedoms to one’s owner. Joseph was not free to work a few months and then move on. He was bound to his master, Potiphar, under penalty of death.

We as Christians are slaves to Christ. We are bound to Christ. Paul described himself as a bond-servant to the Lord Jesus. Paul was a slave, and we are slaves, bought with a price to serve our Master, Jesus Christ. Serving Christ is not merely a 40 hour a week job, where we can clock out and do our own thing, even though a lot of folks seem to think that. Serving Him is 24 hours a day (25 when the time changes), every day of the week, month, year, life. We are to live each moment within His moral guidelines and principles. We are to live according to His Word. We are bound to Him and obligated to live godly before Him.

The first ethic of Joseph I would like for us to notice is his work ethic. Joseph prospered in his work, but because he was a servant, his master, Potiphar, benefited the most. Verse 3 says that “his master saw that the LORD was with him (Joseph).” Can your employer see that the Lord is with you? Are you a blessing or a burden to your employer? I wonder how often we miss out on God’s blessing because we do not glorify God in our work.

But more important – are we profitable servants for the cause of Christ? … godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 9This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. 10For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

In the last days of Paul’s ministry, he asked for John Timothy 4:11… Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. Are we regarded as profitable to the ministry of Christ? When we stand before Him, will we be rewarded as a profitable servant, or cast out as an unprofitable servant? In a parable describing the kingdom of heaven Jesus told of the master and the unprofitable servant. The unprofitable servant was cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ().

Is anyone here a slave to their boss? Some of you might feel like you are, and I know there are some sad work situations around here, but listen, a slave owner could do whatever he wished with a slave, have him killed, or as we shall see, have him thrown into prison. Despite Joseph’s oppressive situation, Potiphar saw the LORD in Joseph. Sometimes we are squeezed by the pressures of life to see what comes out, to see what we are made of, to see if we truly have ethics.

Last Sunday we studied that verse in Romans that said, “if we suffer with Christ, we shall also be glorified together.” God’s method of molding us into strong, Christian ethical servants is through trials of life. Suffering causes the roots of our faith to run deep. The greatest people in the Bible were also faithful overcomers of great trials.

Joseph found grace in Potiphar’s sight. Joseph soon earned the trust of his master and became overseer over all that Potiphar had.

Joseph was no longer in his household enjoying the favor of his father. But he was enjoying the favor of his Heavenly Father.

There is another interesting point in verse 5 – “the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.” Our nation’s have come from the Lord for the sake of genuine Christians of this country. Liberty and capitalism does allow people to prosper, but our exceptionalism comes from favor with the Lord.

Finally, regarding his work ethic, Joseph quickly became a servant who could be trusted even with the highest matters. His work ethic endeared trust from his master.

(2) Joseph’s Personal Ethics (39:7-20)

Joseph was not only a man of a godly work ethic. He was a man of godly personal ethics. And wouldn’t you know it? Those ethics were tested.

There are times in all our lives when we need to leave our coat in temptation’s hand and flee and get ourselves out of there! There are times when we need to leave the room, leave the movie theatre, turn off the TV or video game. There are times of ungodly temptation when we need to flee.

Most of the time, the Bible calls for us to take a stand against sin, but there are situations where we should flee, we should get away from there. There were two passages where Paul told the young Timothy to flee. The first is

1 Corinthians 6:18 AV

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. The second is like the first: Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. There are times to fight, but young people, there are times for flight.

2 Timothy 2:22 AV

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. There are times to fight, but young people, there are times for flight.

There are times to fight, but young people, there are times for flight.

Third, we are to flee materialism.

1 Timothy 6:10–11 AV

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Stay away from situations where temptation is great. Run, faithful, run!

Stay away from situations where temptation is great. Run, faithful, run!

Joseph did the right thing, he got out of there. But doing the right thing sometimes comes with a cost.

Genesis 39:13 AV

And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,

And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, 14That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: 15And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out. 16And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home. 17And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: 18And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.

Sometimes we pay a high price for remaining godly in an ungodly world. Joseph did. Jesus did. The apostles and martyrs did. The fact that the world often rewards good with evil and evil with good shows us that this world is messed up by sin.

19And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. 20And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

Sometimes we pay a high price for remaining godly in an ungodly world. Joseph did. Jesus did. The apostles and martyrs did. The fact that the world often rewards good with evil and evil with good shows us that this world is messed up by sin.

(3) Joseph’s Spiritual Ethics (39:21-23)

Genesis 39:21–23 AV

But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. 23The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

Early one Sunday morning in the Christmas season, I was looking at some flash cards for young people. One side said, “Who did Joseph take down to Egypt?” Since I was focused on Joseph, the son of Jacob, I had to pause for a moment. The other side said, “Mary and the baby Jesus.” But it made me realize a striking comparison. Both Josephs had the Lord with them in Egypt.

Early one Sunday morning in the Christmas season, I was looking at some flash cards for young people. One side said, “Who did Joseph take down to Egypt?” Since I was focused on Joseph, the son of Jacob, I had to pause for a moment. The other side said, “Mary and the baby Jesus.” But it made me realize a striking comparison. Both Josephs had the Lord with them in Egypt.

Did you notice this chapter is not about how Joseph felt? It is about what the Lord did for Joseph and through Joseph. The LORD was with Joseph, the slave in Potiphar’s house, and the LORD was with Joseph, the prisoner. Joseph doesn’t know it, but he is on his way from the prison to the palace. Sometimes our mountaintop experiences require us to go through the valley first.

Joseph did not sit and mope. He didn’t give up on God. Instead he got busy being the best he could be where he was.