Last 5 Days
Joseph in Potiphar’s House
1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” 16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”
19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.
Today’s passage is the first detailed account of Joseph’s life as a slave in Egypt. The Egyptian who bought Joseph was a man by the name of Potiphar. Potiphar held the title of “captain of the guard”, a highly-trusted official in the government of Egypt.
The narrative can be seen in two parts: First, the account of Joseph in the house of Potiphar, and how the Lord was with him and blessed all that he did. Joseph had clearly proven himself to Potiphar be an able, trustworthy slave. So able, in fact, that Potiphar gave Joseph authority over the affairs of his house and all that he owned.
Interestingly, the Bible noted that Potiphar “saw that the Lord was with [Joseph] and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand”. Therefore, Joseph evidently was not shy about his faith in the Lord, to the extent that those around him could attribute his success in his ‘workplace’ to the blessing of the Lord. In this regard, Joseph can be a role model for all of us as we conduct ourselves in the world. We should, as Joseph did, carry ourselves so that our lives become a testimony to the Lord that even non-believers cannot deny.
Just when things seemed to be going well for Joseph (as well as it could have for a slave, at least), the second part of the narrative comes in, where Joseph’s faithfulness to God and resistance to temptation had seemingly devastating consequences.
Joseph was apparently a handsome, well-built young man. This drew the attention of Potiphar’s wife, who attempted to seduce Joseph on multiple occasions. Joseph was steadfast, and did not give in to her wishes. The Bible writes that Joseph said “How then can I … sin against God?”. Clearly, God was at the top of his consciousness and the fear of the Lord guided Joseph’s decision-making in all things, including the situation with Potiphar’s wife.
As a result of being spurned, Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of sexually assaulting her, and Joseph was consequently thrown into prison. At this point, it would seem that Joseph was facing negative consequences of remaining faithful to the Lord. At the same time, the wicked party (in this case Potiphar’s wife) has gotten away with her actions scot free. Being a slave with no rights whatsoever, Joseph did not – and could not – defend himself or give his side of the story.
The Bible did not record how Joseph felt about his situation at that point, but we read that the Lord was still with Joseph and continued to prosper whatever he did even when Joseph was locked up in prison. For this reason, the keeper of the prison gave Joseph the authority over all his fellow prisoners. The Lord did not leave Joseph, even when circumstances seemed unfair and Joseph was being “punished” for keeping his faith in the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, God is faithful and will always keep His promises. God has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. At the same time, Jesus has told us that being Christians, “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). We see both these promises in Joseph’s life via today’s passage, and God will continue to work His good and perfect ways in all our lives, as long as we remain faithful to Him.
Let us be like Joseph when confronted with temptations and tribulations in the world. Let us hold fast to the Lord, even if the situation appears unfair and the consequences severe. God will be faithful, let us trust in Him!