Lessons from the Life of Joseph (5)
“God’s Time, God’s Plan”
Genesis 40:1-23
Last week we saw how Joseph was given a free, one-way ticket to prison – to a dark & dirty dungeon. He had been falsely accused and humanly speaking was in a hopeless situation. Yet we saw that even in that terrible place the Lord was with him. If Joseph had been bitter against his boss for treating him so unfairly, he might have simply sat down & felt sorry for himself. He could so easily have fussed about Egyptian racial discrimination, the injustice of the system, or even about how unfair God was. But Joseph was just as ready to trust God when things looked grim as when things were going well. No doubt Joseph’s attitudes & reactions were very different to those of the average prisoner, and the warden noticed. God moved upon the warden’s heart, and he took a liking to Joseph. Not only that, before long the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners. In Genesis 39:22 that “…the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” What an amazing guy! Joseph’s relationship with God so shaped his attitudes and actions that the people around him couldn’t help but notice.
I read this week about Christians in Iran. Despite the opposition they face, the church continues to grow. Very often the greatest influence in bringing Iranians to faith in Jesus is the lives of the Christians they meet. The report I read mentioned a lady who reversed her car into another car. The lady who caused the accident was very distressed, not only by the accident but because her life was collapsing around her. Her husband was being unfaithful and wanted a divorce. Just before the accident they had had a big argument. The other car which she damaged happened to belong to a Christian couple. That evening the lady went to their home to pay for the damage she had caused. Sensing they were loving & sympathetic the lady poured out her troubles to them. As they listened the Christians forgot about their car and were more concerned for the lady. They told her not to worry about the payment, and shared the Gospel with her. That night the lady asked Jesus to become her Saviour. The love of those Christians opened her heart to the love of God.
Joseph’s life was a witness to others. He was so focused on living for God, even in prison, that his main concern was not himself. His focus was not on his own troubles or the injustices done to him. He was more focussed on the needs of others.
Something very significant was about to happen in Joseph’s life. The prison where he was held was under the jurisdiction of Joseph’s former boss, Potiphar. Potiphar was the Captain of the Guard, in charge of national security for the whole of Egypt, so this prison must have been largely reserved for political prisoners. One day two very high officials were unexpectedly brought in as prisoners. They had offended Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. One was his cupbearer & the other his chief baker. You might think being a butler and being a cook were not very important positions – but in those days, daily in touch with the supreme ruler, the emperor, they actually were extremely important positions. The chief baker was in charge of Pharaoh’s food & the cupbearer tasted the food & drink before it was given to Pharaoh. Of course if anything was poisoned the cupbearer would suffer, not Pharaoh. We don’t know how the two officials offended Pharaoh but they possibly had been suspected of plotting against him. They faced a very uncertain future. Interestingly, it must have been Potiphar, Joseph’s former boss, who instructed the prison warden to assign them to Joseph. This was not just a “coincidence” – no, God planned it. He was in control of Joseph’s life. Joseph did not know it at the time but his being assigned to help these two men was all part of that plan.
When I graduated from university I asked the education authorities if I could be assigned to teach in a black high school near the town of Gweru, in central Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). As a white Christian I wanted to give something back to my fellow countrymen who were black. Much to my disappointment the education department refused my request but sent me instead to a high school for Indian students in my home town of Bulawayo. It was God’s plan for not only did I learn more about Indians (both Hindus & Muslims) but I learnt to love them too. On top of that I met the girl who was to become my wife. We were to have almost 25 years together before she was called home to heaven. Just the year I started my teaching career she started her training at the Teachers’ College. We met at church. If I had gone to Gweru to teach I might never have met her! Wow, am I glad God was in control!
We read in vrs 4 & 5, “After they had been in custody for some time, each of the two men - the cupbearer & the baker of the king of Egypt had a dream the same night, & each dream had a meaning of its own.” Joseph who was responsible for these two guys noticed something was affecting them. He was so freed from self-pity that he could take pity on others. Rather than be moody thinking only of himself, he was able to be sensitive to the moods of others. Verses 6 & 7 continue: “When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, ‘Why are your faces so sad today?’” He noticed, and he showed concern. He was ready to help.
There was a Christian professor who fell into deep depression. He felt so discouraged, so hopeless. One day a friend suggested he think of people who had been a help to him in the past and write a letter to one or two of them to tell them of his gratitude. The professor thought about it for a while. Into his mind came the face of one of his primary school teachers. She had given him a real love for literature. He decided to write and thank her for inspiring him all those years earlier. Not long afterwards he received a letter in shaky handwriting from his old teacher, now in her late eighties. She wrote: “My dear Willie, when I read your letter I was blinded with tears for I remember you as a little boy in my class. You have warmed my heart. I taught in school for fifty years. Yours is the first letter of thanks I have received from a former pupil and I will cherish your letter till the day I die.” The reply from his old teacher brought a beam of light into the heart & mind of the discouraged professor and he decided to write a few more thank you notes to others who had been special to him. He wrote another & another until he had written hundreds of such notes. By then his depression was gone! Dear friend, if you are overcome with self-pity or discouragement, remember Joseph and look around you to the needs of others. Joseph didn’t allow his circumstances to disrupt his relationship with God and he didn’t allow hurt or discouragement to stop him from caring about others.
Yes, Joseph noticed the sad faces of the two former officials & he asked them what was up. They replied in v 8, “We both had dreams …but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” Joseph obviously had a special gift from God to interpret dreams, & he was willing to use that gift to help these men. He didn’t boast about it or draw attention to himself. Before offering to help interpret their dreams Joseph made sure they understood that only God could give the interpretations.
This has lessons for us as we serve the Lord. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, whether they are the more spectacular ones or the more seemingly ordinary ones, are all given by God. They are given not for self glorification but in order to build up the body of Christ & extend the Kingdom of God. If we have been given a certain gift, or gifts, it is not something that we should boast about. We did not earn the gifts. They were given and we must use them for God’s glory. Even natural talents & blessings, including money, physical beauty or intelligence, practical skill, etc. are gifts from God which we are to use for the blessing of others & the glory of God.
The first of the two former officials, the cupbearer, was happy to tell Joseph his dream. Vrs 9-11 tell us, “He said to him, ‘In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, & on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, & its clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, & I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup & put the cup in his hand.’” Without hesitation Joseph told the man the interpretation of the dream. He told the cupbearer that within 3 days he would be restored to his former position. Joseph was putting himself on the line, wasn’t he! He would look a real fool if nothing happened but of course God had shown him the interpretation & so he spoke with confidence.
We also get a glimpse here of the fact even though Joseph was a remarkable young man, he was also human. He also had his feelings. He had his hopes & dreams. Look what he says to the cupbearer in vrs 14 & 15: “…when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.” Joseph was human. He didn’t like being in a dungeon. He didn’t like being ill treated. No one does.
Joseph now faced a new challenge. When the other guy, the disgraced chief baker, saw that Joseph had given the cupbearer “a favourable interpretation”, he too wanted Joseph to interpret his dream for him. Maybe he thought, “Wow, in 3 days he’ll be out of this hole and back in his job! That sounds terrific. Maybe Joseph can give me some good news too.” So he told Joseph his dream: “On my head were three baskets of bread. In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” (Vrs 16 & 17) Would Joseph tell him the truth? Joseph knew the interpretation and it was not good news for the baker – for after three days he was to lose his head. He was to be hanged. Would Joseph try to avoid upsetting the baker and make up something less shocking? After all, the baker would be dead anyway. No, Joseph had to be true to what God told him even if it meant sharing unpleasant truth. In fact telling the truth to this man would possibly have helped him better prepare for the sad fact he was going to die.
You and I need to learn from Joseph. Truth matters. Politicians often say the things they think people want them to say. They do not always set policy according to principle but more often according to what is politically correct. As a pastor I dare not be like a politician. I have to tell you what God’s Word says, not what people would prefer me to say. People are lost without hope in this world unless they turn to God in repentance. There is heaven (the good news) & there is also hell (the bad news). One day we too will die, and we will either go to heaven or to hell. How we respond to Jesus in this life will determine where we will be in the next life. This is deadly serious stuff. We cannot simply say the things people would like to hear. We have to tell the truth.
Joseph told the truth, even to the chief baker and, sure enough, 3 days later everything happened just as God had shown Joseph it would happen. Vrs 21 & 23 say, the Pharaoh “…restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh's hand, but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.”
Joseph’s life had had plenty of ups & downs. He had experienced shattered dreams and was about to suffer yet another huge disappointment. On the day the cupbearer was released I can imagine him taking Joseph by the hand & saying, “Thanks for everything, Joe. You’ve been fantastic. I don’t know how I‘d have got through without you. I won’t forget you. Yes, I’ll put in a good word for you, as soon as I have the chance. Rest assured, my friend.”
Did he keep his promise to Joseph? The Scripture says it simply: “The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.” (v 23) That is how chapter 40 finishes but fortunately it is not how the story finishes. Joseph had further lessons to learn in the dungeon. One was that even the best people can disappoint us at times. People sometimes let us down. They do not meet up to our hopes & expectations. This should not surprise us of course because we too so easily let others down. We too sometimes fail & disappoint those we love. The lesson here is that we should not primarily be relying upon people but rather upon the Lord. People can be the secondary cause of us reaching some goal or completing some plan but our ultimate confidence & trust must be in the Lord. Psalm 20:7 puts it well: “Some trust in chariots & some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
Joseph had two more years to wait before he saw the outworking of the plan of God. The things he learnt in those two years of looking to God alone & waiting for His time were very important. In all the unexpected ups & downs in life we need constantly to check & possibly to re-adjust our attitudes. We need to ask ourselves if we are still focussing on God, if we are still resting in His unchanging love, if we are living in obedience & faith. These were important lessons for Joseph to learn & they are important lessons for us to learn too.
“Suffering for Doing Right”
Genesis 39:16-23 & 40:1-15
Have you ever been falsely accused of something? How did you feel? I read about a guy called John who was driving home late one night when he picked up a hitchhiker. As they were driving along, John began to be suspicious of the guy he had just picked up. He wondered to himself, “Is he trying to steal my wallet?” As he was driving John felt to see if his wallet was in the pocket of his coat that was on the seat between him and the hitchhiker. It wasn't there! He slammed on the brakes and ordered the hitchhiker out. He said, “Give me back my wallet immediately!” The frightened hitchhiker denied he has his wallet but hurriedly gave him a $10 note instead. John drove off and when he arrived home, he started to tell his wife about what had happened. His wife interrupted him, saying, “O, before I forget, John, do you know that you left your wallet at home this morning?” Yes, that poor hitchhiker had been falsely accused. Joseph was falsely accused and he didn’t simply come out $10 poorer. He lost his job and his good name and was thrown into prison. Joseph was falsely accused of trying to rape the wife of his boss, Potiphar. Of course the truth was he had done nothing wrong. He had refused the repeated attempts of Potiphar’s wife to get him to have sex with her, yet when she almost forced herself on him and he ran away she accused him of attempted rape! Let us take a closer look at this woman. We read from verse 13, “When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. ‘Look,’ she said to them, ‘this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.’” Potiphar’s wife may have been a leading woman in Egyptian society – someone with prestige and position. As the wife of a leading official she would have been admired and envied as a successful woman. She may have been dressed in the latest fashions, she may have looked beautiful and sexy, and she certainly was wealthy. She looked good – on the outside. But of course in reality her life was a mess. Her glamorous appearance was no more than a thin cover for her flawed character. Maybe she was like so many of the glamorous & famous women in the world today – beautiful on the outside but empty and hurting on the inside. She allowed herself to become controlled by lust. She had always, it seems, been able to get anything and anyone she wanted, until she met godly Joseph. Her lust was not able to overcome the purity in this young man’s life. Nothing she did or said would shake his sense of right and wrong. Not only was Potiphar’s wife lustful. She was also a liar. She could look straight into the face of her husband as she accused Joseph. We read in v 16-18: “She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: ‘That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.’” It was a straight lie. She knew such an accusation against Joseph could land him in huge trouble. It could even mean the end of his life but she didn’t care. Such was the evil of this woman. Lies may get us out of trouble for a short while but in the end they cause endless pain & suffering. The Bible tells us, “The Lord detests lying lips” Proverbs 12:22. Potiphar’s wife was also a clever manipulator. She implied that in fact the whole thing was her husband’s fault. He was the one who bought Joseph as a slave & brought him into their house. Notice in v.19 how she refers to Joseph as Potiphar’s slave. She said, “This is how your slave treated me.” Was she stressing “your slave” in order to blame Potiphar? She was a controlling, manipulating wife. What a dangerous woman! It is the last we hear of her in the story but what she did and said left behind a trail of misery & suffering. Potiphar was understandably angry. The Bible says “he burned with anger.” This may seem perfectly natural. Any husband would want to protect his wife. To think another man had tried to violate his wife would make any man mad. However Potiphar should have stepped back before making his judgment. He should have checked the facts. Surely he should have considered the incredible record of Joseph – who had worked for him for almost ten years. By this time Joseph was 27. His godly example & outstanding character were well known to Potiphar and all in his household. Sadly, Potiphar either didn’t check out the facts or he chose to ignore them. Maybe it was loss of face for him – the fact his wife was making these accusations. Indirectly it reflected on him too. Did he even suspect his wife was not totally innocent? Whatever the case, Potiphar allowed his anger & loss of face to cloud his judgment. It is not good to make decisions when we are angry. Anger clouds our judgment. It can even blind us to the truth. In James 1:19 & 20 we read, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” We need to remember this as we relate to one another. It affects husbands & wives, parents and children. Whether we are talking about parents and their little kids or teenage kids or talking about grown up children & their elderly parents – remember, anger can cause much heartache. It leads to inappropriate words & unwise decisions. We need to remember this also as we relate to our brothers & sisters in the body of Christ – in the Church family. Potiphar was extremely angry & unfortunately it prevented him from thinking clearly and acting fairly. In addition, Potiphar “allowed himself to be unduly influenced by his wife.”[i] I must say the stress here is on “unduly influenced”. Every husband is or should be influenced by his wife, and normally greatly to his benefit. I have found it is very important and helpful to listen to my wife and take her suggestions, ideas and feelings seriously. I have a godly & wise wife and would be very foolish not to listen to her. Men, you might be surprised to find your wives are actually sometimes quite sensible. It pays to listen to them. Of course, not all wives are right all the time! A Christian husband must obey God’s Word. If his wife suggests he say or do anything that is not according to God’s Word he should not listen to her. Potiphar’s wife was not a good woman. She certainly did not know Joseph’s God nor seek to follow God’s ways. Potiphar was unduly influenced by her. He was right to take what she said seriously but he should have checked out the facts & should not have been intimidated by her sharp tongue or deceived by her lies. And so, godly faithful Joseph finds himself falsely accused and thrown into prison. Verse 20 says, “Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined.” We learn that this was a dungeon. It was not a clean, modern prison with a decent bed, blankets, writing desk & chair, toilet, exercise yard, and a library – as one might find in New Zealand. No, it was dark & dirty with little fresh air and no comfort. Those of you who have visited old castles in the UK or Europe might have visited the dungeons in those castles. They were scary, dark & damp - not the sort of place anyone would like to be. I read a report about prisons in Zimbabwe today. It said, “Zimbabwe's prisoners are suffering untold horrors in Zimbabwe's jails. The State is locking them up in hell-holes, condemning them to slow starvation and possible death from nutrition-related illnesses or the vast array of other diseases they are exposed to through unhygienic conditions.” The report went to say “… Zimbabwe's prisons constitute a unique & especially cruel form of torture that has both physical & psychological impacts on the people affected.” What Joseph faced in prison was probably very much like this and like many in Zimbabwe’s prisons today he was not a criminal and didn’t deserve to be there. What a price Joseph had paid for his desire to honour God and live a pure & upright life! As a reward for his hard work, his honesty, his loyalty, & his integrity he was given a one-way ticket to the dungeon. He didn’t even have time to pack his stuff. I wonder what was going through Joseph’s mind as the bottom seemed, once again, to fall out of his world. Would he start to complain to God? Would his faith begin to crumble? Would he start to question God’s goodness? Would he start to question the value of living a godly life based on the principles of right and wrong? Would it not have been better to compromise a little and avoid getting into such a mess? Would it not have been more sensible to act according to pragmatic considerations rather than to act according to principle? Was it fair to suffer like this for doing what was right? Joseph may have been tempted to ask such questions but it seems he chose to hold on to his faith and his integrity – even in the dungeon. Whether he was the manager of a large estate or a prisoner wearing chains in a dungeon, Joseph on the inside was the same guy. He was a man of faith and a man of principle. He was not a believer only when everything seemed to be going well for him. Even when everything seemed to be going horribly wrong Joseph determined to trust God. There is an old song that goes like this:
“God has not promised skies always blue, Flower strewn pathways all our lives through; God has not promised sun without rain, Joy without sorrow, peace without pain. Refrain
But God has promised strength for the day, Rest for the labour, light for the way, Grace for the trials, help from above, Unfailing sympathy, undying love.”
God has not promised we shall not know Toil and temptation, trouble and woe; He has not told us we shall not bear Many a burden, many a care.
God has not promised smooth roads & wide, Swift, easy travel, needing no guide; Never a mountain rocky and steep, Never a river turbid and deep.”
Dear friends, when the bottom seems to fall out of your world, when everything seems to be going wrong – don’t give up. Don’t despair. Don’t question the love and the sovereign grace of God in your life. He has a plan. He will not let you down. He will be with you. Indeed that is what Joseph experienced right there in the dungeon. The Scripture verse goes on to say, “But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warden.” (v. 20 & 21) The Lord was with him, right there in the prison. As a prisoner and also a slave, with no rights and no chance of a fair trial, Joseph might have seen his situation as totally hopeless. Yet even there in that terrible “hole” God began to work on behalf of Joseph. God used an unusual person to show him kindness. It was the prison warden. Prison wardens are not normally chosen for their position because they have good people skills or are nice, kind people. A typical prison warden, I imagine, would be a big muscular man, a rough tough sort of guy - someone you would not want to mess with. A prison warden has power to make life extremely miserable for any prisoner. They are not known for being soft-hearted. Yet God moved upon this prison warden’s heart and made him kind to Joseph. Even in that horrible place God’s love was to shine upon Joseph. God was with him in prison.
There was another godly young man who found himself in prison not because he was a criminal but because he refused to stop preaching the Gospel. And God was with him in prison too and used him to write a book that has been translated into more than 200 languages and has blessed countless numbers of people in many nations. His name was John Bunyan (1628-1688), the author of Pilgrim’s Progress. God had a plan for John Bunyan while he languished in prison, and He had a plan for Joseph too. He has a plan for you as well – no matter what you are going through. Like Joseph, when you are falsely accused or ill-treated, will you trust in the Lord? In many ways Joseph reminds us of our wonderful Saviour for Jesus Himself was falsely accused. On the cross He prayed for those who nailed Him there saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) When we face unfair treatment, when we are falsely accused or criticised, let us learn to be like Joseph. Indeed, let us learn to be like Jesus.
Lessons from the Life of Joseph (3)
“Success & Temptation” Genesis 39:5-15 & 1 Corinthians 10:11-13
Joseph made the decision to trust God. He may have been a slave in the house of the Egyptian official Potiphar but his attitude of trust lifted him above his circumstances – and God blessed everything he did. He didn’t have to say anything. People noticed. Potiphar noticed. He was not only impressed with the way Joseph worked. He not only admired Joseph’s upright character and winsome personality - he saw something in Joseph that made a deep impression on him. He recognized that the reason Joseph was so different was that God was with him. Joseph’s relationship with God was so real that Potiphar could not help but make the connection between him and his God. How about you and me? Do people see Jesus in us – in our words, in our attitudes, in the things we do? Do they connect the way we live with the fact we know God? American preacher John MacArthur said: “Your lifestyle is your most powerful message”. How true that is! People can read us like a book. In the New Testament we have the four gospels - the Gospel according to Matthew, the Gospel according to Mark, the Gospel according to Luke, and the Gospel according to John. Well, what is the Gospel according to you? What do people learn about Jesus from your life? Do they see Jesus in you?
Potiphar was so impressed with what he saw in Joseph, we read in v 4, that he “…put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” Joseph made such an impression, and God blessed him so much, that Potiphar appointed him as manager of his whole estate. Notice something else in v. 5, “From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.” Not only was God with Joseph. Not only did God bless Joseph and have him promoted. More than that – God blessed Joseph’s boss, Potiphar and his whole estate. Directly because of Joseph those he worked for and all those he worked with were blessed. What an incredible testimony! I am reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” When people see something different in us, they often ask why. Of course when they do not see anything there is nothing to ask! Let me give you some examples of how this can work. Take for example the influence of a Christian teacher. Their influence can go way beyond the classroom. It can affect the whole school – other teachers, other pupils and even their homes. I have also seen the way a Christian can impact others on the sport’s field. By playing fairly and cleanly a culture of sportsmanship spreads to other players. There was a great South African cricketer called Jonty Rhodes who together with other Christians in the Springbok team influenced not only the team but the whole country. Michael Jones, the famous All Black rugby player, had a similar influence. The same can happen in the business world or in any professional field as Christians live godly lives. So Joseph began to enjoy success. Potiphar also prospered. His investment portfolio was looking extremely healthy. His estate, his house & fields were flourishing. His work force was happy. With Joseph in charge, someone in whom he had complete confidence, things were going really well. And what a change in circumstances for young Joseph! He had come from the bottom of a dry cistern in the desert, and from being sold as a slave in Egypt, and was now a very successful manager on the estate of one of Egypt’s top officials. He was respected. He was trusted. But success brings other challenges. The higher up one rises the further one has to fall, and others may well try to pull you down. Those with responsibilities or status often become the focus of criticism. No one seems to have been criticising Joseph but popularity also has other inherent dangers. And Joseph was very popular. We read in v 6 & 7, “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’” There is danger in being good looking – whether we are male or female. Beautiful girls or handsome, gifted men face temptations that can if they are not careful destroy them. In fact all of us face temptations, whether we are good looking or not. Temptations come to all of us at one time or other. Often there is a progression in temptation. It often starts with just a look. Potiphar’s wife “took notice of Joseph”. She looked at him and then looked again – in a way that a married woman should not look at another man. Her looking turned into lustful thoughts, and it was not long before lust took over. She forgot modesty & unashamedly said to Joseph, “Come to bed with me!” Wow, this lady was a fast mover! She would have fitted well in a modern movie where one minute a man notices a pretty lady and the next minute he has her in his arms. Only here, it is the woman who does the chasing, not the man! There is a warning for us in this story. We need to refuse to allow lustful thoughts to settle in our minds. This is why we need self-discipline when watching television or surfing the net. We must refuse the temptation to click on images that feed lust. Pornography feeds lust & can become a crippling addiction bringing ruin to other healthy & precious relationships. How would Joseph respond to the sexy suggestions of Potiphar’s wife? Would he take the line of least resistance? Look how he responds in verses 8 & 9, “But he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?’” Immorality was part of Egyptian society and Egyptian women were known, at the time, for their loose morals. Joseph could have looked at the culture around him and decided that it was OK to go along with the majority. After all he was now living in Egypt. He could have argued that it was best to do as the Egyptians do. But no, Joseph acted on principle. He made his decision on the basis of what he knew was right and what he knew was wrong. No doubt long before Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph he had made up his mind to keep himself pure & to be pleasing to God, not least in how he related to women. Let me encourage our young people to be like Joseph. Decide now that no matter what others around you are saying or doing, by God’s grace & with the help of the Holy Spirit, you will keep yourself pure & pleasing to God. Unless you make up your mind & set boundaries beforehand, when faced by unexpected temptation, it’s not easy to think as clearly or act as decisively as Joseph did. Purity is precious & worth fighting for. If we compromise in this area we place ourselves outside the will of God. His hand of blessing will be withdrawn. We will lose our testimony & our usefulness to the Master. Joseph’s response to the temptation was based on principle – on his understanding of right & wrong. He could so easily have made excuses and compromised his principles. He could have given in to Potiphar’s wife. He could have rationalized by saying to himself: “Giving in just once won’t harm me,” or “She initiated this so I can’t get the blame,” or “this small compromise could help advance my career.” No, Joseph did not rationalize. He did not make excuses. Look again at what he said, “My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” Joseph knew that marriage was sacred. He was a single man & Potiphar’s wife was a married woman. For him to flirt with her let alone have sex with her would be to violate not only the trust of Potiphar but also to violate their marriage relationship. It would be a sin against Potiphar. But more than that, Joseph knew that it would be a sin against God. Basically sin is rebellion against God. There is no greater help in overcoming temptation than to have a holy fear of God. It is not like the sudden fear we have when we notice a police trap & realise that we are going 70 kph in a 50 kph speed zone. That is the fear of being caught. Our fear of God is more like the fear of grieving someone we love – it is the last thing we would want to do. And, like Joseph, we know that God is with us always & He sees everything – even what is in our hearts. When we truly love & fear Him we desire only to do what is pleasing in His sight. Joseph knew that to commit adultery would be an act of rebellion against the God he loved & served. No matter what today’s culture says sexual sin is not just something between two consenting adults. It is disobedience against God. Joseph successfully refused to compromise his purity. He refused to go along with Potiphar’s wife. But his refusal only made her more determined. She sought out every opportunity to seduce him. Whenever she saw Joseph, and if it was safe to do so, she gave him those sexy looks. She brushed past him so close he could smell her perfume. “Joseph, I think of you constantly. Come on, who will know? What’s wrong with a little bit of fun?” Who knows what she said or did, but the Bible says she kept at him day after day. I do not think Potiphar’s wife was very much older than Joseph nor was she unattractive. Potiphar as a high official & a wealthy aristocrat in all likelihood had a pretty stunning wife. Yet Joseph was not moved by her beauty or by her persistence. Verse 10 tells us, “…though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.” Joseph faced temptation daily – “day after day” Potiphar’s wife tried her charm on him. To overcome repeated temptations is much more difficult than to overcome a one-off temptation. For example if we had a cheese cake sitting in our fridge – sooner or later I’d be tempted to help myself – probably one piece with morning tea & another with my afternoon cup of coffee. If there was no cheese cake in the fridge I would not even think about it. That is a trivial example but here is one that is not so trivial, mentioned by a pastor friend of mine. A couple who were thinking of marriage assured him, “Pastor, we don’t sleep together. We keep busy and have everything under control!” A few months went by and my pastor friend noticed the same couple were avoiding him. He guessed what had happened. They were not strong enough to face on-going temptation. They forgot that they were weak & allowed themselves to get into compromising situations. Only by drawing on the power of God can we resist the devil, and when we do resist him he will run from us. Joseph took action. Verse 10 says, “…he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.” Joseph wisely tried to avoid being with her. He was not someone who said, “I resisted the temptation yesterday. Today should be fine too.” No, he knew he should remain vigilant. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says “If you think you are standing, be careful that you don’t fall.” The very next verse in that passage goes on, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Joseph needed that special way out and for him it was to run. In Genesis 39:11 &12 we read, “One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” There are times, friends, when the only way to overcome temptation is to get out of temptation’s way as fast as possible. Even though Potiphar’s wife grabbed his cloak Joseph knew it was better to lose his cloak than to lose his character. Next time we will see what happened to Joseph and will discover that doing things God’s way doesn’t always result in everything turning out well for us. In fact Joseph got falsely accused and ended up in prison – but his integrity was intact and God was still with him. Finally, I want to say a word to those for whom talking about temptation brings up bad memories of past failure. The Lord wants you to know that He can forgive the past and can give new hope for the future. The Lord says in Jeremiah 31:34 “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sin no more.” This is His promise to all who repent of their sin and turn away from it. The Lord is not only ready to forgive us but He is able to take away our guilt and shame. And by His Holy Spirit He gives us new strength, like Joseph, to choose to do what is right, regardless of the consequences.