Genesis 39.21-23-The Lord Causes Chief Jailor to Place Joseph in Charge of Prison
Wednesday December 6, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 39:21-23-The Lord Causes Chief Jailor to Place Joseph in Charge of Prison
Lesson # 250
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 39:1.
This evening we will complete 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 39:20 is called a “janus” section, which is a term named after the Roman god of doorways with one head and two faces looking in opposite directions and is a term applied to a literary unit that looks back and forth to unite the units before and after.
Therefore, Genesis 39:20 functions as a “janus” between the last scene, which ended with Potiphar confining Joseph to the royal prison (See Genesis 39:20a) and the new scene, which opens with the Lord providing for Joseph in prison as he underwent suffering for blessing (See Genesis 39:20b-21).
Genesis 39:20 functions as a “janus” between the two scenes by repeating the word “prison.”
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 thus indicating that the Lord had a covenant relationship with Joseph since he was a member of the covenant family, Israel.
The term “Lord” 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 by prospering while he was imprisoned.
The statement “the Lord was with Joseph” refers to the Lord’s presence in the life of Joseph despite his adverse circumstances and refers to the fact that the Lord not only protected Joseph but also prospered him while he was imprisoned in that the Lord caused the overseer to delegate authority to Joseph over the entire prison population.
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 and was manifested in that the Lord gave Joseph favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Hebrews 13:5, “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.’”
Hebrews 13:6, “so that we confidently say, ‘THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?’”
Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
The statement “the Lord was with Joseph” also teaches that the Lord remained faithful to Joseph in his adverse circumstances.
Lamentations 3:22-24, “The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, Therefore I have hope in Him.”
The statement “the Lord was with Joseph” helps to put Joseph’s unfair treatment and adversity into proper perspective in that despite being imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, the Lord had a plan for his life and was on his side.
Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
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 promote him 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).
If you recall, in Genesis 37:5-11, Joseph received direct revelation from God in two dreams, which predicted that his brothers and his father would one day come under his authority and this was fulfilled when Joseph became prime minister of Egypt and his brothers unknowingly bowing down to him.
We must remember that the two prophetic dreams that Joseph received from God when he was seventeen years of age would serve as an encouragement to him while he was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.
These dreams, which contain revelation from God about the future of Joseph’s family and himself served as a great encouragement to Joseph while he was incarcerated for thirteen years in Egypt.
In our day and age, the Scriptures, which are revelation from God concerning our future (See 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21), serve as encouragement to us when we go through adversity and underserved suffering in our lives.
Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
The revelation from God that Joseph received in his two dreams constituted the “Word of God” for him whereas here in the church age, the Word of God appears in the original languages of Scripture.
The statement “the Lord was with Joseph” is a reference to the providence of God, which is the divine outworking of the divine decree, the object being the final manifestation of God’s glory and expresses the fact that Joseph’s life was not ruled by chance or fate but by God.
The statement “the Lord was with Joseph” reveals that the Lord was the reason for Joseph’s success while imprisoned and teaches that although Joseph circumstances had drastically changed, his relationship with the Lord had remained the same.
The fact that “the Lord was with Joseph” is a repetition of what happened with Joseph and his relationship to Potiphar who gave him authority over his entire household (See Genesis 39:1-6).
“Kindness” is the noun chesedh (ds#j#) (kheh-sed), which means, “loyal for faithful love” to Joseph and which loyal or faithful love God expresses in faithfulness to His covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants such as Joseph.
Micah 7:20, “You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.”
The word chesedh involves the inferior partner depending on the kindness of the superior to meet a desperate need and so we see that the Lord who is superior to Joseph meets a desperate need of his covenant partner Joseph while in prison.
Psalm 31:7-8, “I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul, and You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a large place.”
Psalm 32:10-11, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”
Psalm 36:7, “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.”
Psalm 59:17, “O my strength, I will sing praises to You; For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.”
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.”
The expression “chief jailer” in the original Hebrew literally means, “the ruler of the prison house” since it is composed of the noun sar (rv^), “overseer” and the noun bayith (ty!B^) (bah-yith), “house” and the articular noun sohar (rh^s)) (so-har), “prison.”
Therefore, we see that the Lord gave Joseph favor in the sight of the prison warden, who is denoted by the phrase “the ruler of the prison house” and who was under the authority of Potiphar according to Genesis 40:3.
The statement “gave him (Joseph) favor in the sight of the chief jailer” means that Joseph won the esteem and confidence of the prison warden.
The statement that the Lord “gave him (Joseph) favor in the sight of the chief jailer” means that the prison warden was friendly towards Joseph and that Joseph was held in high regard by him as manifested when he delegated authority to Joseph to be the overseer over the entire prison population.
Genesis 39:22-23 records that the prison warden made Joseph the overseer over the entire prison population because the Lord was with him.
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.”
If you recall, the jail that Joseph was put in was located on the premises of Potiphar’s estate, which also explains why the chief jailer so quickly placed matters under Joseph’s charge and so Joseph would have been well known to the chief jailer.
Potiphar would go down to Joseph each day to discuss business with him and all of the areas which used to be under Joseph’s direct control and so Joseph was now only a consultant to Potiphar with authority over the entire prison population.
The prison warden who was under Potiphar’s authority would have known of Joseph’s administrative skills and was either ordered by Potiphar or decided himself to delegate authority to Joseph over the entire prison population.
Therefore, we can see that the Lord caused Joseph to find favor with the prison warden just as He had done with Potiphar.
Just as the Lord prospered Joseph and manifested His presence in the life of Joseph through Potiphar who delegated authority to Joseph over his entire estate so He prospered Joseph and manifested His presence in the life of Joseph through the prison warden who delegated authority to him over the entire prison population.
Joseph’s experiences under Potiphar and the prison warden would prepare him and give him greater capacity for even greater responsibility in the future when Pharaoh would establish him as prime minister over all of Egypt.