Joseph Is Protected in Egypt
Book of Genesis Chapters 39 and 40
As Christians we will be further tested in 2021. Persecution is on the rise and it will increase. The amazing thing about Christian persecution is that the Church always grows when persecution increases. God does not cause Christian persecution to allow this to happen!
The world will treat Christians shamefully just as the world did to Joseph. Much of the persecution of the Church will come by many so-called Christians already in the Church such as our own president who stands against all the Word of God though he claims salvation though his own pastors will not pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
If you do not claim Jesus, you cannot be Christian, and your salvation has no merit!
Today we will see that the Lord is true to His Word as He will never abandon us nor will He forsake us as the world turns against us.
Joseph was treated shamefully by his own brothers.
We will see that these 10 brothers held the truth of Joseph from their father for near 22 years when Jehovah stepped back into the picture to show Jacob (Israel) the truth of his son Joseph.
Joseph never forgot his roots and he knew his roots were in the Almighty God.
We know there were no Christians in the Old Testament because to be a Christian is to come by Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who began a New Covenant based upon better sacrifices.
A new and living way.
Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
In typology Joseph was a great example of what a Christian should be like given to us from the pages of the Old Testament.
Joseph was God’s child, but he was not Christian!
*Gen 39:1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
Gen 39:2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
Let us not miss the fact that slavery was alive and well in these days of Joseph, and we need not think that Joseph was the only human that was robbed of his dignity and his freedoms as we can be sure that there was a great market for the sale of humans in that day as there is today.
Why do we continue to allow this to go on today?
Egypt was the greatest of powerful nations at this time in history.
All powerful people believe they should be able to have slaves!
We need to understand things are going to happen to us that we just will not like. We live in a wicked world no matter how our politicians dress it up!
We live in a world that denies its Creator and blames everything upon humans when all these things could be stopped if not for wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We must never overlook this Scriptural truth!
It is the truth today just as it was in the days of Joseph if not more so!
Joseph was now a slave with no rights and no freedoms.
Joseph came from a rich family, but he was now just a poor slave who would become a servant to Potiphar.
This sounds familiar as we know our Savior gave up the riches of Heaven to put on the clothes of a servant in order that we could be saved from this wicked dying world.
Joseph had someone on his side throughout all his days in Egypt!
The LORD was with Joseph!
When the title Lord is spelled with all capital letters, it means Yahweh, the self-existing God, Jehovah as the Hebrews would say.
It is the Lord who made Joseph to be prosperous even as a slave in a foreign land.
The one thing Joseph had to do was to not forsake his Savior!
Tit 2:9 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
Tit 2:10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
We must understand that the Word of God does not ever change according to our own circumstances.
The Word of God remains the same and the meaning of the Word of God is always unchanged.
God says what He means, and God means what He says!
The important thing to us as it was to Joseph is that The LORD will never forsake us if we love Him!
*Gen 39:3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen 39:4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
We should know it was not the sin of Joseph that caused him to be a slave in Egypt.
Yes, Joseph was a sinner, but it was the sin of his brothers that caused him to be in Egypt.
Nothing in God’s plans for Israel, changed at all when this thing happened!
God does not adapt to the things of the world. God’s plan moves along at His own pace and nothing and nobody can change what God has planned from the very first day of Creation.
Joseph found “Grace”!
Grace is the unmerited favor of God.
The word “Grace” is seen in the Bible 170 times and the actions of God’s “Grace” are seen many more times than this.
We need to understand God wants to show us His “Grace” and not His “Judgment”!
Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Psa 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Grace is not just a New Testament word!
Even as a young man of 17, the work ethic of Joseph impressed this Egyptian soldier.
*Gen 39:5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
Gen 39:6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
Gen 39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
Joseph ran the household of Potiphar so well Potiphar could concentrate on his duties but there was one duty that was being neglected, his wife.
Notice how her sin began in her eyes.
She cast her eyes upon Joseph. She saw a goodly person. She saw a young man well favored by all that knew him.
What do we know?
We all need to make a covenant with our eyes!
Our eyes will get us in trouble!
Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
Job 31:2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
Job 31:3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
Job 31:4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
Job 31:5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
Job 31:6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.
We see that Job had the right answer.
We also see this woman was daring and shameless in her sin.
1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
By the words of Jesus, this woman had already sinned.
Mat_5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Jesus said this of a man, but it is the same for a woman!
Joseph had done nothing to cause this but maybe he could have made himself more aware and been more ready for what did happen. Perhaps!
Joseph knew better than to sink to this depth of sin!
Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
Pro 6:24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
Pro 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
Joseph also began to realize the scorn of a woman.
Pro 21:19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.
*Gen 39:8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
Gen 39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me “but thee”, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Joseph was being trained for things that were in his future and we must understand that we must survive temptation!
Pro 22:14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
No doubt Potiphar knew something of the ways of his wife because he had warned Joseph.
We should not doubt that this was a beautiful and attractive woman and she certainly held power in her political circles.
The one thing we will understand from the Word of God is that He will help us to escape temptation.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
God also warns us about these things when we are young.
2Ti 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2Ti 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
Joseph chose to do the right thing. He ran.
Joseph might not have known what would happen, but he knew he would remain innocent in the eyes of God and God would protect him.
We can just imagine Joseph as he might say to himself, “what would Jesus do” when he did say “how then can I do this great sin of wickedness against God”?
This woman would not have known the meaning of what Joseph had said because her gods had no such rules.
We see that “sex” outside of marriage is indeed a “great wickedness” in the eyes of God.
We live in a world where these things are blessed by the government and if mistakes are made then it is alright to solve that problem by murdering that unborn child.
The master of the house had trusted Joseph with all his possessions but not with his wife.
We must understand that all sin is first against God and God alone!
Deu 25:16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Sin always interferes with our relationship with the Lord!
Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
If our prayers and our conversations with the Lord cease to be heard, our life will become miserable.
This woman could not stop her lusts for Joseph, or she refused to, and she lacked opportunity.
*Gen 39:10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
Gen 39:11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
You know the Lord will never accept the excuse “well I just had to give in, she would not stop”.
When we look to other humans from a human point of view, we will not always get the right answer.
But when we look to humans from Heaven’s point of view, we can see right from wrong.
Potiphar’s wife treated Joseph in a humiliating way by requesting him to her bedroom and doing so very often.
She saw Joseph as no more than a slave who should have been obedient to her.
In reality, there is just no way defend sex outside of marriage.
Joseph was not about to sacrifice his purity or his integrity just to please his master’s wife.
Joseph may not have been a teenager anymore, but he was not going to ruin his adult life by disobeying God!
Joseph had to fight this battle every day until this day when he was alone in the house with this foolish woman.
Maybe Joseph should not have put himself in this position but as a hard and devoted worker, he may not have even noticed he was alone with her.
The world does not know the meaning of sin!
Potiphar’s wife had probably set these things up and we will notice these men were close enough for her make contact with them quickly, if things did not go her way.
What should we know? The Word of God.
Pro 5:1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
Pro 5:2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
Pro 5:3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
Pro 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
Pro 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Pro 5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Pro 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Pro 5:8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Pro 5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Pro 5:10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
Pro 5:11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
Pro 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
Pro 5:13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
Joseph allowed this woman to get a little too close to him and she caught him by his garment.
*Gen 39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
Joseph ran out of his garment as a man escaping for his life and in reality, this would have been true.
Joseph did not stop to argue with this woman, it was time to get away from her no matter the consequences.
This is the second time someone removed the coat of Joseph!
What is our lesson here?
When we are in the habit of referring everything to God we will not be easily deceived by the appearance of things in this world.
Joseph was not about to get into a pulling match with this wicked wife of his master Potiphar.
She then changed her approach and blamed Joseph when, “by her holding onto the garment” should have been obvious, she was the blame.
She explains herself to her husband.
*Gen 39:16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
Gen 39:17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
Gen 39:18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
Gen 39:19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.
We should immediately notice that this woman laid the blame on her husband saying, “this Hebrew servant you brought onto us”.
Wicked women know how to remove the blame from themselves.
Potiphar became enraged as most men would do.
We must understand that God’s people will face false accusations and these things will increase.
The world has no other way to battle the truth.
Pro_12:17 He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
Pro_12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
A charge of rape or attempted rape has never set well with any people.
Of course Joseph was innocent, but he would never be able to convince Potiphar of the truth even if he knew about his promiscuous wife. The politics of his position would not have allowed it.
Joseph is wronged by his master for political reasons and Joseph expects to be killed but this is not in God’s plan and Joseph has spent enough time in the house of Potiphar to see how the political things work in Egypt.
Joseph will not be killed but he will be placed in prison.
*Gen 39:20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
In many ways this is seen as a mild punishment, but we must see that Joseph is being protected by the Lord, after all he is innocent of all charges.
We can also suspect that Potiphar may not have believed all the things his wife had said and to me the evidence proved she was lying.
I believe Joseph was imprisoned for appearances and Potiphar had placed a lot of trust in Joseph and I believe Potiphar actually believed Joseph but none of these things mattered because Jehovah knew the truth.
Once we are “justified” by the Lord it does not matter what the world believes.
We live in a heavily biased nation with politicians ensuring that it stays that way.
Many similar things were going on in Egypt in that day of Joseph.
1Pe 2:19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
1Pe 2:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
All these things are examples of the things that happened to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Isa_53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
It would not be long before Joseph would be running this prison still learning things God wanted him to learn for what lied ahead in his future.
*Gen 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
The truth is gates and bars cannot shut out the mercy of God!
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Joseph receives the same confidence from the Jailer as he had with Potiphar.
We can be sure there were no loose women in this place.
Our light can shine in a prison as well as it does outside a prison and those who are witnessed to cannot run away.
Joseph had no special traits that made him better than anyone else.
As Christians we are not better than any other people but by the “Grace of God”.
It was the Lord who was on the side of Joseph!
Remember, the Apostle Paul, was content wherever he was located, and God had to put Paul in prison so he could give us the Epistles.
Paul would have never slowed down long enough to write these precious books if he had remained free all those years.
For Joseph, prison was his next steppingstone, to being second in command of all of Egypt.
God certainly does work in mysterious ways!
Isa_55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Joseph became second in command at the prison.
You know, it must have been an absolute pleasure to watch this young man work!
It is a pleasure to work around Christians rather than around those who are lost.
We have different goals as Christians!
Joseph did not have any friends and family around him, but he did have his God with him at all times!
*Gen 39:22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
Psa 106:46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.
As Joseph had grown up, he had witnessed the power of God.
Joseph had dreams that he knew where real.
Joseph knew that God had been with him in his service to Potiphar.
But now even in prison Joseph was seeing that God was with Him and a very great lesson lie before him.
We must all be patient and wait on God!
Joseph may have been in prison, but he was respected, and he had a purpose even in his bounds!
*Gen 39:23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.
What is it that gives one special power over men? It is not great natural gifts! It is not superiority of the mind! It is not the gifts of rank and fortune!
The thing that gives one special powers over men is the fact that the Lord is with him!
The only thing Joseph needed to know was that the Lord was with him!
The only thing that can put space between us and God is our disobedience!
Yes, the world had treated Joseph terrible, but this is what the world does. The world will turn on you in a moment if you go against the world.
If we will continue to serve the Lord, praying for our forgiveness and being obedient to the Word of God, we will find that we can prosper even if we are locked up in a prison.
Our prosperity and our success do not depend upon circumstances.
Our prosperity and our success depend upon our integrity, and our attitude, and our character, and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
If our character is more like Jesus, then we will be successful and blessed of God.
If there is one other thing we must clearly get in our heads, it is that we must patiently wait on the Lord!
Psa_27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
The one thing that Joseph did not forget to do was to act like the Lord is the boss!
Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Col 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
Col 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Eph 6:8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
These things may sound hard to do, but if we remember our ending, then this little time we spend in this flesh upon this earth is really nothing when we compare it to the Glory World!
Amen