Genesis 39.21-23-Joseph Experiences Undeserved Suffering for Blessing
Tuesday December 5, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 39:21-23-Joseph Experiences Undeserved Suffering for Blessing
Lesson # 249
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 39:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of Genesis 39.
By way of review of this chapter, we have noted the following:
Genesis 39:1 briefly summarized Genesis 37:36, where an Egyptian officer, Potiphar, who was captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard, purchasing Joseph from the Ishmaelites.
Genesis 39:2-6 presented to us the record of God blessing the captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard, Potiphar on account of Joseph.
Genesis 39:6b-7 gives us the account of Potiphar’s wife tempting Joseph to commit adultery with her.
Genesis 39:8-10 records Joseph withstanding the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife.
In Genesis 39:11-18, we saw Joseph again rejecting the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife and in frustration she accuses Joseph of attempted rape to her servants but instead accuses him to her husband of only disrobing in front of her in the hopes that Joseph would crack and sleep with her.
Genesis 39:19-20 gives us the account of Joseph being imprisoned reluctantly by Potiphar as a result of his wife’s accusations.
This evening we will study Genesis 39:21-23 where we will see the Lord causing the chief jailor to place Joseph in charge of the prison he is confined in.
Genesis 39:1, “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.”
Genesis 39:2, “The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.”
Genesis 39:3, “Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.”
Genesis 39:4, “So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.”
Genesis 39:5, “It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD'S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.”
Genesis 39:6a, “So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.”
Genesis 39:6b, “Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”
Genesis 39:7, “It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’”
Genesis 39:8, “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 put all that he owns in my charge.’”
Genesis 39:9, “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?”
Genesis 39:10, “As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.”
Genesis 39:11, “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.”
Genesis 39:12, “She caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me!’ and he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.”
Genesis 39:13-14, “When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called to the men of her household and said to them, ‘See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.’”
Genesis 39:15, “When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.”
Genesis 39:16, “So she left his garment beside her until his master came home.”
Genesis 39:17-18, “Then she spoke to him with these words, ‘The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”
Genesis 39:19, “Now 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.”
Genesis 39:20, “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.”
Genesis 39:21, “But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.”
Genesis 39:22, “The chief jailer committed to Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.”
Genesis 39:23, “The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.”
“Lord” is the proper noun Yahweh, which is the covenant name of God indicating that Joseph had a covenant relationship with God and it also emphasizes the “immanency” of God meaning that the Lord was involving Himself in and concerning Himself with and intervening in the life of Joseph.
The statement “the Lord was with Joseph” refers to the fact that even though Joseph was unjustly accused and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, the Lord was present with Joseph.
The Lord’s presence in the life of Joseph while he was unjustly imprisoned for a crime he did not commit reminds us of the Lord’s promise to us here in the church age that He will never leave us or forsake us.
Hebrews 13:5-6, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,’ so that we confidently say, ‘THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?’”
God permitted Joseph to experience unjust treatment in order to develop his character and advance him to spiritual maturity so that he would have the capacity to be promoted to a position of authority as prime minister of Egypt resulting in the fulfillment of Joseph’s two prophetic dreams (See Genesis 37:5-11).
Notice that God does “not” immediately remove Joseph from the undeserved suffering but rather the Lord remains with Joseph in the midst of it as indicated by the statement “the Lord was with Joseph.”
There are 3 agencies that God employs to bring about suffering: (1) Old sin nature (2) Cosmic system (3) Satan.
Now there are “positive” and “negative” categories of suffering.
Negative categories of suffering: (1) Self-induced misery: Suffering from making bad decisions (2) Divine discipline: Suffering designed to get to confess our sins and get back us in fellowship with God.
Joseph is experiencing the “positive” category of suffering, which is “suffering for blessing.”
Notice that the Lord blesses Joseph while he is suffering undeservedly.
In order to grow to spiritual maturity, the believer must experience undeserved suffering since it is through undeserved suffering that the believer is conformed to the image of Christ.
Underserved suffering is designed to draw us closer to the Lord by leading us to appropriate by faith our union and identification with Christ in His death, resurrection and session so as to rest in our position in Christ.
The power of God in our lives is never more noticeable or conspicuous as when we are suffering, going through adversities and even going through the process of dying because when self has been crucified then the life of Jesus can be manifested in the believer.
There are 3 categories of undeserved suffering in spiritual adulthood, all of which are in actuality, “suffering for blessing” in the sense that undeserved suffering conforms the believer into the image of Christ, and enables him to reach spiritual maturity.
The 1st category of undeserved suffering is related to the 1st stage of spiritual adulthood, which is “spiritual self-esteem.”
“Spiritual self-esteem” is characterized by the believer’s confidence in his relationship with the Lord derived from a certain degree of knowledge of the Word of God but is vulnerable to arrogance and thinking oneself superior to others based upon this knowledge.
(1) “Providential preventive suffering” is experienced by the believer at the 1st stage of spiritual adulthood, spiritual self-esteem and is designed to keep the believer from getting arrogant as well as to advance the believer to the 2nd stage of spiritual adulthood, which is spiritual independence (2 Cor. 12:7).
2 Corinthians 12:1, “Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 12:2, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago -- whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows -- such a man was caught up to the third heaven.”
2 Corinthians 12:3-4, “And I know how such a man -- whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows -- was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.”
2 Corinthians 12:5, “On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses.”
2 Corinthians 12:6, “For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.”
2 Corinthians 12:7, “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me -- to keep me from exalting myself!”
2 Corinthians 12:8, “Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
The 2nd category of undeserved suffering is related to the 2nd stage of spiritual adulthood, which is “spiritual autonomy,” or “spiritual independence,” which is characterized by the believer’s ability to solve his own problems with the Word of God but his love for the Lord and others must be strengthened.
(2) Momentum testing is experienced by the believer at the 2nd stage of spiritual adulthood, which is spiritual independence and is designed to advance him to the 3rd and final stage of spiritual adulthood, spiritual maturity and comes in 4 categories: (1) People Testing (2) Thought Testing (3) System Testing (4) Disaster Testing (2 Cor. 12:10).
2 Corinthians 12:10, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults (people testing), with distresses (thought testing), with persecutions (system testing), with difficulties (disaster testing), for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
“Spiritual maturity” is characterized by the believer’s maximum function of love for the Lord and others and as a result has an invisible impact in 5 areas.
(1) Personal: Your own periphery. (2) National: The Pivot. (3) International: Blessing by association through a mature missionary. (4) Angelic: Witness for the Prosecution in the Rebuttal Phase of Satan’s Appeal Trial. (5) Heritage: Children of a mature believer are blessed after the believer dies.
(3) “Evidence testing” is experienced “exclusively” by the believer in spiritual maturity and is the privilege of the believer to become a witness for the Prosecution (God) in the rebuttal phase of Satan’s appeal trial (Job 1-2).
The appeal trial of Satan is human history and is the result of God granting Satan his appeal after God judged him and the fallen angels and sentenced them to the lake of fire forever for their rebellion in eternity past.
Evidence Testing is a cross-examination by Satan and comes in 2 categories: (1) Relation to the plan of God. (2) Relation to the circumstances of life.
Job is an example of a mature believer who received evidence testing in relation to the circumstances of life.
His testing was in 3 parts: (1) Loss of prosperity (Job 1). (2) Loss of health (Job 2:1-10). (3) Loss of friends (Job 11-13; 16:1-5).
Underserved suffering enables the believer to experience identification with Christ in His death and resurrection.
Philippians 3:10, “that I come to know Him experientially and the power from His resurrection and the participation in His sufferings by my becoming like Him with respect to His death.”
“That I come to know Him experientially” refers to experiencing fellowship with Christ after salvation by experiencing identification with Him in His death and resurrection.
“The power from His resurrection” refers to experiencing the divine omnipotence available to the believer because of his identification with Christ in His resurrection.
“The participation in His sufferings by my becoming like Him with respect to His death”: refers to the believer denying self and taking up his cross and experiencing identification with Christ in His death.
Philippians 3:11, “If somehow (by becoming like Him with respect to His death), I may attain to the exit-resurrection, namely, the one out from the (spiritually) dead ones.”
“I may attain to the exit-resurrection, namely, the one out from the (spiritually) dead ones” refers to experiencing identification with Christ in His resurrection, which is accomplished by applying the Word of life, which enables the Spirit of life to reproduce the character and life of Christ in the believer.
The phrase “namely, the one out from the dead ones” refers to 2 categories of spiritual death: (1) Real spiritual death: unregenerate people (2) Temporal spiritual death: regenerate people who our consistently out of fellowship with God.
It is a privilege to suffer undeservedly for Christ’s sake.
Philippians 1:29, “It has been graciously granted (the privilege) because of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also, to suffer (hardship) because of Him.”
God never permits us to undergo any testing that we don’t have the capacity for.
1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
Just as the Father’s plan for the Lord Jesus Christ involved undeserved suffering so the plan of God for our lives involves undeserved suffering.
If our Master, the Lord suffered undeservedly, so we, His servants will as well.
John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”
Those who desire to live spiritually will be persecuted.
2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live spiritually in fellowship with Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
The apostle Peter also writes to believers concerning undeserved suffering for blessing.
1 Peter 2:18, “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.”
1 Peter 2:19, “For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.”
1 Peter 2:20, “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”
1 Peter 2:21, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”
1 Peter 2:22, “WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH.”
1 Peter 2:23, “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.”
1 Peter 2:24, “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”
1 Peter 2:25, “For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”
1 Peter 4:12, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.”
1 Peter 4:13, “but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”
1 Peter 4:14, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”
1 Peter 4:15, “Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler.”
1 Peter 4:16, “but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”
1 Peter 4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
1 Peter 4:18, “AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?”
1 Peter 4:19, “Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”