February 18, 2025 • 24 mins
Discover the enduring power of faith and integrity through the incredible journey of Joseph in the Book of Genesis. How does one maintain unwavering trust in divine providence while facing betrayal, false accusations, and imprisonment? This episode promises to uncover the profound lessons embedded in Joseph’s story, exploring his rise to prominence in Egypt despite being sold into slavery and encountering intense temptation from Potiphar's wife. Experience the transformative power of steadfast faith as we examine Joseph’s ability to thrive under adversity, turning challenges into opportunities for growth and favor.
Join me on Mysteries of God's Word as we journey through Joseph's trials and triumphs, highlighting his moral courage and the divine favor that follows those who remain true to their principles. From prospering in Potiphar's household to finding favor in prison, Joseph's tale is a testament to resilience and trust in the Lord. Reflect on the profound implications of his story for our own lives, and prepare for an enlightening continuation in two weeks as we explore Genesis chapter 40, where Joseph's gift of dream interpretation sets the stage for further revelations in his extraordinary narrative.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Grace and peace to you from God, our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Welcome again to anotherMysteries of God's Word.
I want to apologize to those ofyou who follow me regularly and
were anticipating this podcast.
Last Tuesday, unfortunately, Icame down with a very severe flu
(00:23):
bug and was out for over threedays, so I was unable to get
this out.
Today is friday of that weekand my voice is just recovered,
so I'll be putting this out ontuesday of this upcoming week.
And as long as I'm mentioningthis, I want to give a shout out
(00:44):
to some of you who havefollowed me for so long.
Now, while I can't seeeverybody who listens to my
podcast, I can see when somebodydownloads a podcast, and I've
had someone from Frankfurt,germany, downloading my podcast
every week for over a year.
And also I want to give a shoutout to Charleston, west
Virginia.
(01:04):
There seems to be a group ofpeople down there, one in
particular, who's keeping tabsto download the moment my
podcast comes out.
And thank all of you who havebeen following me and
downloading and listening.
It is a great encouragement tome to see all of your
participation, especially thoseof you who are so faithful to do
(01:28):
it every week.
With that said, I also want tomention that after this podcast
comes out, we will also beskipping a week of putting our
podcast out, because I will beon vacation with my wife and
then we'll come out with apodcast again on March 3rd.
Now on to Genesis, chapter 39,joseph and Potiphar's wife,
(01:53):
beginning at verse 1.
Now, joseph had been broughtdown to Egypt and Potiphar, an
officer of Pharaoh, the captainof the guard, an Egyptian, had
bought him from the Ishmaeliteswho had brought him down there.
The Lord was with Joseph and hebecame a successful man and he
(02:15):
was in the house of his Egyptianmaster.
His master saw that the Lordwas with him and that the Lord
caused all that he did tosucceed in his hand.
Here in our first three verses,we're reminded again in verse 1
, how Joseph was brought down toEgypt.
(02:37):
This first verse is essentiallya restatement of Genesis,
chapter 37, verse 36, linkingthese two chapters together and
picking up the narrative ofJoseph being sold into slavery.
After we just read about Judahand Tamar Again, just to get our
(02:57):
minds around the charactersthat are being spoken about here
, the Israelites who had broughtJoseph down into Egypt to sell
him were a group of nomadicArabians that had formed a
caravan for trade.
Potiphar, again, is ahigh-ranking officer in Egypt.
(03:18):
He is the captain of the guardwe're told here.
We know through this chapterand the next, he is responsible
for the imprisonment of seniormembers of Pharaoh's staff and
therefore has oversight of aprison which appears to be at
his home.
Furthermore, potiphar is moreof a title than a name, and it
(03:41):
means the one whom the God Rahas given.
Now we see in verses 2 and 3that the Lord is with Joseph and
he becomes successful.
He's in the house of Potipharand, as the Lord is with him,
despite the fact that he's soldinto slavery, he's been betrayed
by his brothers, he clearly hastrust in the Lord and he
(04:06):
becomes successful and prospersin spite of all of this
opposition by those who shouldlove him.
And he became prosperous in thehouse of his master, potiphar.
And Potiphar saw it.
Potiphar saw how the Lord waswith Joseph and everything that
(04:26):
he did was successful, pickingup in verse 4,.
So Joseph found favor in hissight and attended him and he
made him overseer of his houseand put him in charge of all
that he had.
From the time that he made himoverseer of his house and over
all that he had.
The Lord blessed the Egyptian'shouse for Joseph's sake.
(04:51):
The blessing of the Lord was onall that he had in the house
and the field.
So he left all that he had inJoseph's church and because of
him.
Here, in verses 4 through 6, weare again reminded of how we
(05:15):
were told by Jacob's father thatJoseph had an old head on a
young body.
Joseph's maturity at such ayoung age is shown by how
responsible he is and how he isable to care for the estate of
Potiphar.
Eventually, potiphar continuedto give Joseph more and more
(05:39):
responsibility until he trustedhim so fully he put Joseph in
charge of the entire estate.
Now, surely we are told thatthe Lord was with him and caused
all that he did to succeed bothin the house and in the field
for Potiphar.
(05:59):
So Joseph's success wasn't hisown diligence, but nevertheless
we must not discount how Josephcontinued to trust in the Lord
and use the gifts that God hadgiven him to benefit those
around him, no matter where hewas.
And because he did it andbecause he trusted the Lord, no
(06:23):
matter what his circumstance,the Lord prospered him.
And we read that Potiphar leftall that he had in Joseph's
charge and because of him, hehad no concern about anything
but the food he ate.
That's a statement showing thatPotiphar placed everything so
completely under the care ofJoseph that his only concern was
(06:46):
what his next meal would be.
Joseph completely cared for hismaster Potiphar and everything
that he had.
And we also read Now Joseph washandsome in form and appearance
.
That phrase, form and appearance, was also used back in Genesis
(07:07):
29-17 to describe how Rachel wasso beautiful.
The word form refers to thefigure, the face, the physical
present.
The word for appearance refersto how people commonly see the
person.
So Joseph was handsome in hisphysical presence, and people
(07:29):
saw him as handsome when theywould look upon him, picking up
in verse 7,.
And after a time, his master'swife cast her eyes on Joseph and
said Lie with me.
But he refused and said to hismaster's wife Behold, because of
me, my master has no concernabout anything in his house and
(07:53):
he has put everything that hehas in my charge.
He is not greater in this housethan I am.
He is not greater in this housethan I am, nor has he kept back
anything from me except you,because you are his wife.
How then, can I do this greatwickedness and sin against God?
(08:14):
And as she spoke to Joseph dayafter day, he would not listen
to her, to lie beside her or tobe with her.
In verse 7, we see that thewife of Potiphar cast her eyes
on Joseph.
Egyptian women were not kept inseclusion, as some women today
(08:39):
in the Orient are, but in factthey were given a great deal of
freedom, so much so that theybecame dangerously shackled to
sin.
As is commonly the case whenpeople are given freedom without
good moral boundaries, itencourages pride in their own
choices with bad morals.
(09:00):
Egyptian women were known fortheir intrigues with sexual
affairs and drunkenness.
Many of the monuments in Egyptattest to how the sexuality of
women was idolized, and theyalso speak of their love of
licentiousness.
From what we know of history,the actions of Potiphar's wife
(09:23):
would not be uncommon for awoman of her rank.
It's also interesting that theeyes of Potiphar's wife only
fall on Joseph after he hasgained the full trust of
Potiphar and now prominence overthe entire household.
And Potiphar's wife asks Josephto lie with her, but Joseph
(09:46):
refused.
And amongst the things he tellsher, I think the most prominent
is he says how can I do thisgreat wickedness and sin against
God?
And we see in that statementthat while the eyes of
Potiphar's wife were on Joseph,joseph's eyes were on the Lord.
(10:13):
Joseph was not simply followingan ethical code, but he desired
to walk with God, the God whohad given him his dreams, the
God of his fathers, given himhis dreams, the God of his
fathers, abraham, isaac andJacob.
Joseph resists the advances ofthis Egyptian woman, even trying
to reason with her by tellingher how her husband trusts him
with the entire estate and herhusband is gracious towards him
(10:37):
giving him whatever he desires.
But she is his wife and that isa sacred relationship not to be
touched.
Joseph's stand here on personalpurity stands in contrast to the
story we just read in the lastchapter of Judah and Tamar,
(10:59):
showing how Joseph trusted inGod's design for marriage while
his brother did not.
This exemplifies that, eventhough Judah will be the
physical seed through whom theMessiah will come, joseph is the
chosen seed of God throughfaith in this generation.
(11:21):
We also see that this wasn'tjust a one-time temptation that
Potiphar's wife put beforeJoseph.
It says she spoke to Joseph dayafter day.
The temptation that Potiphar'swife put before Joseph was a
constant flirtation and atemptation over many days,
perhaps even weeks or months.
(11:42):
She wouldn't just ask Joseph tobe with her, but also just to
come down and lie next to her.
She saw Joseph as her servantand she has a goal of conquering
him through her sexualproudness and she's not going to
give up until she has her prize.
But it says Joseph would notlisten to her.
(12:06):
Joseph saw this Egyptian woman'sadvances for what they were
evil in the sight of God.
He knew they would break thetrust of his master and they
would bring dishonor upon him,his master and even the woman
wanting to be with him.
And Joseph began to tune outthis woman's evil words in his
(12:29):
mind altogether, so that whenshe spoke he simply ignored her
Picking up in verse 11,.
But one day, when he went tothe house to do his work and
none of the men of the housewere there in the house, she
caught him by his garment sayingLie with me.
(12:50):
But he left his garment in herhand and fled and got out of the
house.
And as soon as she saw that hehad left his garment in her hand
and had fled out of the house,she called to the men of the
household and said to them See,he has brought among us a Hebrew
(13:12):
to laugh at us.
He came in to me to lie with meand I cried out with a loud
voice.
And as soon as he heard that Ilifted up my voice and cried out
, he left his garment beside meand fled and got out of the
house.
So back in verse 11, it saysbut one day.
(13:35):
So, when it became abundantlyclear to Potiphar's wife that
her first approach of beingflirtatious with Joseph was
going nowhere, she changes hertactics and she's planning on
ambushing him and forcingherself on him when nobody else
is there, and then, when nobodyelse is in the house, she
(13:58):
catches Joseph by the garment.
In the house, she catchesJoseph by the garment.
Now, this Hebrew word forgarment here could be translated
clothes, robes or wardrobe.
This is a description ofPotiphar's wife taking hold of
Joseph's primary clothing.
Considering that Joseph wassold as a slave to her husband,
(14:22):
she very likely believes heshould obey her commands as well
, including the command to liewith her.
Her ambush, an attempt to forceherself upon him, must at some
level be frustration, not onlythat Joseph resists her
sexuality as a woman, but alsothat he denies her authority
(14:44):
over him as a slave.
She grabs at his garment anddemands that he sleep with her.
But in truth, her actions havethe reflections of the wayward
wife described in Proverbs 7,13-19, which reads she seizes
him and kisses him.
And with bold face she says tohim in Proverbs 7, 13-19, which
reads she seizes him and kisseshim.
And with bold face she says tohim I had to offer sacrifices
(15:08):
and today I had to pay my vows.
So now I have come out to meetyou, to seek you eagerly, and I
have found you.
I have spread my couch withcoverings and colored linens
from Egyptian linen.
I have perfumed my bed withmyrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
(15:31):
Come, let us take our fill oflove till morning.
Let us delight ourselves withlove, for my husband is not at
home.
He has gone on a long journeyand so it is with Potiphar's
wife.
Joseph, essentially beingattacked by Potiphar's wife as
she is seizing his garment,realizes the situation he's in
it, says he left his garment inher hand and he fled.
(15:54):
That is a description ofPotiphar's wife tearing Joseph's
clothes right off of him as heflees, even willing to leave his
primary clothing in her hands.
Joseph's actions here are alesson for every man to heed
when sexual temptation comes atyou full force, it's not a time
(16:17):
to stand or to resist, it is atime to run.
Joseph is a faithful example toall men of how we are to walk
in personal purity before God.
Just a few verses ago, whenPotiphar's wife was asking
Joseph to sleep with him, heshows us his faith in the ways
(16:39):
of God by saying no, he didstand his ground and he resisted
the temptation coming at him.
But when the temptation turnsfull force and attempts to force
him into immorality, josephknows this is not a time to
stand, this is a time to flee.
(16:59):
Joseph teaches us here whensomebody is attempting to trap
you in immorality, the rightthing to do is to flee the evil,
even if it means you'll beaccused later.
Be the man of integrity.
We also see in verse 14 thatPotiphar's wife calls the men of
(17:21):
the household.
So wherever they were becausethey weren't in the house to
begin with they must have beensomewhere on the estate.
So she calls them and summonsthem and she convinces them of
her story.
She uses the language that hehas brought a Hebrew among us to
laugh at us Now the use ofJoseph's nationality, both here
(17:44):
and when she later speaks to herhusband, shows a contempt for
the Hebrews.
The Egyptians as a culturelooked down on shepherds and in
particular the Hebrews, becausethey both sacrificed and ate
sheep, rams and cows, all ofwhich were very sacred to the
(18:06):
Egyptians, as the Egyptians sawthem as part of their pagan
worship of different gods.
Therefore, the Egyptiansthought the Hebrews were just
ignorant, low-class people.
Potiphar's wife, in her lyingargument, states that she cried
out with a loud voice, whichseems very interesting because
(18:27):
she has for many days, if notweeks and months, been pursuing
Joseph and flirting with him, tothe point of now tearing his
clothes off his body.
But she claims she's the victimof his lust.
And then, of course we read shesays he left his garment beside
me and fled out of the house.
(18:49):
Again, in an effort to coverher own lack of lust and
self-control, she accuses Josephof leaving his clothes beside
her as he flees the house Verse16,.
Then she laid up his garmentsby her until his master came
home and she told him the samestory, saying the Hebrew servant
(19:15):
whom you've brought among uscame into me to laugh at me, but
as soon as I lifted up my voiceand cried.
He left his garment beside meand fled out of the house.
So after Potiphar's wifemanipulates the household
servants, she now arrangesJoseph's garments in such a way
(19:38):
as to incriminate him.
And when Potiphar gets home,the scripture tells us that she
tells him the same story as anygood manipulator does they keep
the lie together, telling thesame lie over and over, again
and again.
She uses the derogatory phrasethat Hebrew servant in a
(20:02):
condescending way to show herhusband that Joseph is unworthy
to be given any respect ordefense.
In addition to shaming Joseph,she also shames her husband,
potiphar, and says the one whomyou brought among us.
This woman knows effectivelyhow to manipulate her husband,
(20:25):
twisting the truth so that shegets what she wants.
Verse 19.
As soon as his master heard thewords that his wife spoke to
him this is the way your servanttreated me His anger was
kindled and Joseph's master tookhim and put him into the prison
, the place where the king'sprisoners were confined.
(20:49):
And he was there in prison.
And we see, potiphar's responseto his wife was that his anger
was kindled After being accusedby his own wife of bringing a
low life Hebrew servant into thehouse who tried to force
himself onto her, potipharbecomes enraged.
This is a sign of a man thatdoesn't think with his mind but
(21:13):
rather thinks with his emotions.
Certainly, potiphar knows thecharacter of his wife and he's
also seen Joseph give himnothing but loyalty and
faithfulness.
But Potiphar does not giveJoseph any type of hearing, nor
does he talk with him, but hesimply throws him into prison.
(21:33):
And he can do this because heis the captain of the guard who
oversees the prison, the placewhere the king's prisoners were
confined.
This great man, who's held inhigh esteem in Egypt, who stood
in the very pharaoh's court, isduped by his wife and in a rage
of anger, he simply throwsJoseph into one of his cells,
(21:57):
picking up in verse 21,.
But the Lord was with Joseph andshowed him steadfast love and
gave him favor in the sight ofthe keeper of the prison.
And the keeper of the prisonput Joseph in charge of all the
prisoners who were in the prison.
Whatever was done there, he wasthe one who did it.
The keeper of the prison paidno attention to anything that
(22:21):
was in Joseph's charge, becausethe Lord was with him.
And whatever he did, the Lordmade it succeed.
Again, we see that, regardlessof Joseph's circumstances.
It does not stop the faith ofJoseph.
It says the Lord was withJoseph.
(22:42):
The Lord continued to prosperJoseph even when he was thrown
into prison and Joseph gainedthe favor of the prison guard.
Joseph became so well thoughtof by the prison guard that the
keeper of the prison started tohave Joseph watch the other
prisoners as well as tending thechores.
(23:03):
And again, we are told the Lordmade it succeed.
The Lord was looking afterJoseph in the prison and as
Joseph has been faithful toacknowledge the Lord in his ways
, the Lord is making Joseph'spath straight.
Thank you for joining me thisweek.
(23:26):
Join me in two weeks forchapter 40, where Joseph
interprets two prisoners' dreams.
God bless you this week.
Grace and peace to you from God, our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Welcome again to anotherMysteries of God's Word.
I want to apologize to those ofyou who follow me regularly and
were anticipating this podcast.
Last Tuesday, unfortunately, Icame down with a very severe flu
(00:23):
bug and was out for over threedays, so I was unable to get
this out.
Today is friday of that weekand my voice is just recovered,
so I'll be putting this out ontuesday of this upcoming week.
And as long as I'm mentioningthis, I want to give a shout out
(00:44):
to some of you who havefollowed me for so long.
Now, while I can't seeeverybody who listens to my
podcast, I can see when somebodydownloads a podcast, and I've
had someone from Frankfurt,germany, downloading my podcast
every week for over a year.
And also I want to give a shoutout to Charleston, west
Virginia.
(01:04):
There seems to be a group ofpeople down there, one in
particular, who's keeping tabsto download the moment my
podcast comes out.
And thank all of you who havebeen following me and
downloading and listening.
It is a great encouragement tome to see all of your
participation, especially thoseof you who are so faithful to do
(01:28):
it every week.
With that said, I also want tomention that after this podcast
comes out, we will also beskipping a week of putting our
podcast out, because I will beon vacation with my wife and
then we'll come out with apodcast again on March 3rd.
Now on to Genesis, chapter 39,joseph and Potiphar's wife,
(01:53):
beginning at verse 1.
Now, joseph had been broughtdown to Egypt and Potiphar, an
officer of Pharaoh, the captainof the guard, an Egyptian, had
bought him from the Ishmaeliteswho had brought him down there.
The Lord was with Joseph and hebecame a successful man and he
(02:15):
was in the house of his Egyptianmaster.
His master saw that the Lordwas with him and that the Lord
caused all that he did tosucceed in his hand.
Here in our first three verses,we're reminded again in verse 1
, how Joseph was brought down toEgypt.
(02:37):
This first verse is essentiallya restatement of Genesis,
chapter 37, verse 36, linkingthese two chapters together and
picking up the narrative ofJoseph being sold into slavery.
After we just read about Judahand Tamar Again, just to get our
(02:57):
minds around the charactersthat are being spoken about here
, the Israelites who had broughtJoseph down into Egypt to sell
him were a group of nomadicArabians that had formed a
caravan for trade.
Potiphar, again, is ahigh-ranking officer in Egypt.
(03:18):
He is the captain of the guardwe're told here.
We know through this chapterand the next, he is responsible
for the imprisonment of seniormembers of Pharaoh's staff and
therefore has oversight of aprison which appears to be at
his home.
Furthermore, potiphar is moreof a title than a name, and it
(03:41):
means the one whom the God Rahas given.
Now we see in verses 2 and 3that the Lord is with Joseph and
he becomes successful.
He's in the house of Potipharand, as the Lord is with him,
despite the fact that he's soldinto slavery, he's been betrayed
by his brothers, he clearly hastrust in the Lord and he
(04:06):
becomes successful and prospersin spite of all of this
opposition by those who shouldlove him.
And he became prosperous in thehouse of his master, potiphar.
And Potiphar saw it.
Potiphar saw how the Lord waswith Joseph and everything that
(04:26):
he did was successful, pickingup in verse 4,.
So Joseph found favor in hissight and attended him and he
made him overseer of his houseand put him in charge of all
that he had.
From the time that he made himoverseer of his house and over
all that he had.
The Lord blessed the Egyptian'shouse for Joseph's sake.
(04:51):
The blessing of the Lord was onall that he had in the house
and the field.
So he left all that he had inJoseph's church and because of
him.
Here, in verses 4 through 6, weare again reminded of how we
(05:15):
were told by Jacob's father thatJoseph had an old head on a
young body.
Joseph's maturity at such ayoung age is shown by how
responsible he is and how he isable to care for the estate of
Potiphar.
Eventually, potiphar continuedto give Joseph more and more
(05:39):
responsibility until he trustedhim so fully he put Joseph in
charge of the entire estate.
Now, surely we are told thatthe Lord was with him and caused
all that he did to succeed bothin the house and in the field
for Potiphar.
(05:59):
So Joseph's success wasn't hisown diligence, but nevertheless
we must not discount how Josephcontinued to trust in the Lord
and use the gifts that God hadgiven him to benefit those
around him, no matter where hewas.
And because he did it andbecause he trusted the Lord, no
(06:23):
matter what his circumstance,the Lord prospered him.
And we read that Potiphar leftall that he had in Joseph's
charge and because of him, hehad no concern about anything
but the food he ate.
That's a statement showing thatPotiphar placed everything so
completely under the care ofJoseph that his only concern was
(06:46):
what his next meal would be.
Joseph completely cared for hismaster Potiphar and everything
that he had.
And we also read Now Joseph washandsome in form and appearance
.
That phrase, form and appearance, was also used back in Genesis
(07:07):
29-17 to describe how Rachel wasso beautiful.
The word form refers to thefigure, the face, the physical
present.
The word for appearance refersto how people commonly see the
person.
So Joseph was handsome in hisphysical presence, and people
(07:29):
saw him as handsome when theywould look upon him, picking up
in verse 7,.
And after a time, his master'swife cast her eyes on Joseph and
said Lie with me.
But he refused and said to hismaster's wife Behold, because of
me, my master has no concernabout anything in his house and
(07:53):
he has put everything that hehas in my charge.
He is not greater in this housethan I am.
He is not greater in this housethan I am, nor has he kept back
anything from me except you,because you are his wife.
How then, can I do this greatwickedness and sin against God?
(08:14):
And as she spoke to Joseph dayafter day, he would not listen
to her, to lie beside her or tobe with her.
In verse 7, we see that thewife of Potiphar cast her eyes
on Joseph.
Egyptian women were not kept inseclusion, as some women today
(08:39):
in the Orient are, but in factthey were given a great deal of
freedom, so much so that theybecame dangerously shackled to
sin.
As is commonly the case whenpeople are given freedom without
good moral boundaries, itencourages pride in their own
choices with bad morals.
(09:00):
Egyptian women were known fortheir intrigues with sexual
affairs and drunkenness.
Many of the monuments in Egyptattest to how the sexuality of
women was idolized, and theyalso speak of their love of
licentiousness.
From what we know of history,the actions of Potiphar's wife
(09:23):
would not be uncommon for awoman of her rank.
It's also interesting that theeyes of Potiphar's wife only
fall on Joseph after he hasgained the full trust of
Potiphar and now prominence overthe entire household.
And Potiphar's wife asks Josephto lie with her, but Joseph
(09:46):
refused.
And amongst the things he tellsher, I think the most prominent
is he says how can I do thisgreat wickedness and sin against
God?
And we see in that statementthat while the eyes of
Potiphar's wife were on Joseph,joseph's eyes were on the Lord.
(10:13):
Joseph was not simply followingan ethical code, but he desired
to walk with God, the God whohad given him his dreams, the
God of his fathers, given himhis dreams, the God of his
fathers, abraham, isaac andJacob.
Joseph resists the advances ofthis Egyptian woman, even trying
to reason with her by tellingher how her husband trusts him
with the entire estate and herhusband is gracious towards him
(10:37):
giving him whatever he desires.
But she is his wife and that isa sacred relationship not to be
touched.
Joseph's stand here on personalpurity stands in contrast to the
story we just read in the lastchapter of Judah and Tamar,
(10:59):
showing how Joseph trusted inGod's design for marriage while
his brother did not.
This exemplifies that, eventhough Judah will be the
physical seed through whom theMessiah will come, joseph is the
chosen seed of God throughfaith in this generation.
(11:21):
We also see that this wasn'tjust a one-time temptation that
Potiphar's wife put beforeJoseph.
It says she spoke to Joseph dayafter day.
The temptation that Potiphar'swife put before Joseph was a
constant flirtation and atemptation over many days,
perhaps even weeks or months.
(11:42):
She wouldn't just ask Joseph tobe with her, but also just to
come down and lie next to her.
She saw Joseph as her servantand she has a goal of conquering
him through her sexualproudness and she's not going to
give up until she has her prize.
But it says Joseph would notlisten to her.
(12:06):
Joseph saw this Egyptian woman'sadvances for what they were
evil in the sight of God.
He knew they would break thetrust of his master and they
would bring dishonor upon him,his master and even the woman
wanting to be with him.
And Joseph began to tune outthis woman's evil words in his
(12:29):
mind altogether, so that whenshe spoke he simply ignored her
Picking up in verse 11,.
But one day, when he went tothe house to do his work and
none of the men of the housewere there in the house, she
caught him by his garment sayingLie with me.
(12:50):
But he left his garment in herhand and fled and got out of the
house.
And as soon as she saw that hehad left his garment in her hand
and had fled out of the house,she called to the men of the
household and said to them See,he has brought among us a Hebrew
(13:12):
to laugh at us.
He came in to me to lie with meand I cried out with a loud
voice.
And as soon as he heard that Ilifted up my voice and cried out
, he left his garment beside meand fled and got out of the
house.
So back in verse 11, it saysbut one day.
(13:35):
So, when it became abundantlyclear to Potiphar's wife that
her first approach of beingflirtatious with Joseph was
going nowhere, she changes hertactics and she's planning on
ambushing him and forcingherself on him when nobody else
is there, and then, when nobodyelse is in the house, she
(13:58):
catches Joseph by the garment.
In the house, she catchesJoseph by the garment.
Now, this Hebrew word forgarment here could be translated
clothes, robes or wardrobe.
This is a description ofPotiphar's wife taking hold of
Joseph's primary clothing.
Considering that Joseph wassold as a slave to her husband,
(14:22):
she very likely believes heshould obey her commands as well
, including the command to liewith her.
Her ambush, an attempt to forceherself upon him, must at some
level be frustration, not onlythat Joseph resists her
sexuality as a woman, but alsothat he denies her authority
(14:44):
over him as a slave.
She grabs at his garment anddemands that he sleep with her.
But in truth, her actions havethe reflections of the wayward
wife described in Proverbs 7,13-19, which reads she seizes
him and kisses him.
And with bold face she says tohim in Proverbs 7, 13-19, which
reads she seizes him and kisseshim.
And with bold face she says tohim I had to offer sacrifices
(15:08):
and today I had to pay my vows.
So now I have come out to meetyou, to seek you eagerly, and I
have found you.
I have spread my couch withcoverings and colored linens
from Egyptian linen.
I have perfumed my bed withmyrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
(15:31):
Come, let us take our fill oflove till morning.
Let us delight ourselves withlove, for my husband is not at
home.
He has gone on a long journeyand so it is with Potiphar's
wife.
Joseph, essentially beingattacked by Potiphar's wife as
she is seizing his garment,realizes the situation he's in
it, says he left his garment inher hand and he fled.
(15:54):
That is a description ofPotiphar's wife tearing Joseph's
clothes right off of him as heflees, even willing to leave his
primary clothing in her hands.
Joseph's actions here are alesson for every man to heed
when sexual temptation comes atyou full force, it's not a time
(16:17):
to stand or to resist, it is atime to run.
Joseph is a faithful example toall men of how we are to walk
in personal purity before God.
Just a few verses ago, whenPotiphar's wife was asking
Joseph to sleep with him, heshows us his faith in the ways
(16:39):
of God by saying no, he didstand his ground and he resisted
the temptation coming at him.
But when the temptation turnsfull force and attempts to force
him into immorality, josephknows this is not a time to
stand, this is a time to flee.
(16:59):
Joseph teaches us here whensomebody is attempting to trap
you in immorality, the rightthing to do is to flee the evil,
even if it means you'll beaccused later.
Be the man of integrity.
We also see in verse 14 thatPotiphar's wife calls the men of
(17:21):
the household.
So wherever they were becausethey weren't in the house to
begin with they must have beensomewhere on the estate.
So she calls them and summonsthem and she convinces them of
her story.
She uses the language that hehas brought a Hebrew among us to
laugh at us Now the use ofJoseph's nationality, both here
(17:44):
and when she later speaks to herhusband, shows a contempt for
the Hebrews.
The Egyptians as a culturelooked down on shepherds and in
particular the Hebrews, becausethey both sacrificed and ate
sheep, rams and cows, all ofwhich were very sacred to the
(18:06):
Egyptians, as the Egyptians sawthem as part of their pagan
worship of different gods.
Therefore, the Egyptiansthought the Hebrews were just
ignorant, low-class people.
Potiphar's wife, in her lyingargument, states that she cried
out with a loud voice, whichseems very interesting because
(18:27):
she has for many days, if notweeks and months, been pursuing
Joseph and flirting with him, tothe point of now tearing his
clothes off his body.
But she claims she's the victimof his lust.
And then, of course we read shesays he left his garment beside
me and fled out of the house.
(18:49):
Again, in an effort to coverher own lack of lust and
self-control, she accuses Josephof leaving his clothes beside
her as he flees the house Verse16,.
Then she laid up his garmentsby her until his master came
home and she told him the samestory, saying the Hebrew servant
(19:15):
whom you've brought among uscame into me to laugh at me, but
as soon as I lifted up my voiceand cried.
He left his garment beside meand fled out of the house.
So after Potiphar's wifemanipulates the household
servants, she now arrangesJoseph's garments in such a way
(19:38):
as to incriminate him.
And when Potiphar gets home,the scripture tells us that she
tells him the same story as anygood manipulator does they keep
the lie together, telling thesame lie over and over, again
and again.
She uses the derogatory phrasethat Hebrew servant in a
(20:02):
condescending way to show herhusband that Joseph is unworthy
to be given any respect ordefense.
In addition to shaming Joseph,she also shames her husband,
potiphar, and says the one whomyou brought among us.
This woman knows effectivelyhow to manipulate her husband,
(20:25):
twisting the truth so that shegets what she wants.
Verse 19.
As soon as his master heard thewords that his wife spoke to
him this is the way your servanttreated me His anger was
kindled and Joseph's master tookhim and put him into the prison
, the place where the king'sprisoners were confined.
(20:49):
And he was there in prison.
And we see, potiphar's responseto his wife was that his anger
was kindled After being accusedby his own wife of bringing a
low life Hebrew servant into thehouse who tried to force
himself onto her, potipharbecomes enraged.
This is a sign of a man thatdoesn't think with his mind but
(21:13):
rather thinks with his emotions.
Certainly, potiphar knows thecharacter of his wife and he's
also seen Joseph give himnothing but loyalty and
faithfulness.
But Potiphar does not giveJoseph any type of hearing, nor
does he talk with him, but hesimply throws him into prison.
(21:33):
And he can do this because heis the captain of the guard who
oversees the prison, the placewhere the king's prisoners were
confined.
This great man, who's held inhigh esteem in Egypt, who stood
in the very pharaoh's court, isduped by his wife and in a rage
of anger, he simply throwsJoseph into one of his cells,
(21:57):
picking up in verse 21,.
But the Lord was with Joseph andshowed him steadfast love and
gave him favor in the sight ofthe keeper of the prison.
And the keeper of the prisonput Joseph in charge of all the
prisoners who were in the prison.
Whatever was done there, he wasthe one who did it.
The keeper of the prison paidno attention to anything that
(22:21):
was in Joseph's charge, becausethe Lord was with him.
And whatever he did, the Lordmade it succeed.
Again, we see that, regardlessof Joseph's circumstances.
It does not stop the faith ofJoseph.
It says the Lord was withJoseph.
(22:42):
The Lord continued to prosperJoseph even when he was thrown
into prison and Joseph gainedthe favor of the prison guard.
Joseph became so well thoughtof by the prison guard that the
keeper of the prison started tohave Joseph watch the other
prisoners as well as tending thechores.
(23:03):
And again, we are told the Lordmade it succeed.
The Lord was looking afterJoseph in the prison and as
Joseph has been faithful toacknowledge the Lord in his ways
, the Lord is making Joseph'spath straight.
Thank you for joining me thisweek.
(23:26):
Join me in two weeks forchapter 40, where Joseph
interprets two prisoners' dreams.
God bless you this week.
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