Trusting the Lord

When It Really Counts

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

David Takes a Census

Book of 1 Chronicles Chapter 21

A census is taken in any nation to determine the number of people in that nation.

When a census is used for any other purpose, then it is not a true census!

In Israel, the number of people would be separated by those people over the age of twenty to determine the amount of men capable of being in the army which was a requirement if they were called upon.

This is still done in Israel today!

Not by census but by law!

Every man and I believe every woman over the age of eighteen is required to serve a tour in the military of Israel and from then to the age of fifty they would be the reserves if Israel were called into war as they are in now with Hamas.

Every eighteen-year-old man in America is still required to register in America today, but right now we still have a volunteer military.

Another fact is that, in the time of the exit of Israel from Egypt, every man above twenty years was required to pay a half shekel as a ransom for his soul, that there should be no plague whenever a numbering of the people took place.

This numbering by King David was uncalled for! God had not told David to number the people of Israel.

Israel was at peace and David did this thing just so he could boast. It was the sin of pride.

It seemed that David just wanted to boast about how large his army was, when the size of his army was never important.

Did David require that half-shekel? It does not seem so, and the Scriptures do not say.

We do know that God sent an angel to bring judgment upon Israel for this act of King David.

God showed to David that it was He who determined the size of that nation.

This is what Joab reminded David of, and it was a fact that when a nation is at peace, more children are born but the abortion industry has destroyed this truth.

This is also why during the time of COVID we never heard how our military fared against this man-made disease.

Some nations are still working on plagues that would hinder the military of the United States!

We only heard that demand came for our militaries to be vaccinated and we lost troops from both directions.

Some to this disease and some because they refused the vaccine.

Our government is so foolish!

As God does, He will almost always cause something good to come out of something that is done against Him, if we repent.

The size of the army of Israel was never important when they were close to Jehovah.

The Lord Jesus Christ was the true Captain of the army of Israel then and now!

Jos_5:15 And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

At this time David was the human captain over the armies of Israel as the Lord explained to King Saul.

1Sa_13:14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

What we can understand is that a census was not to be taken of Israel unless it was directed to be done by Jehovah.

Exo 38:26 A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

The size of the army of Israel was not relevant when the Lord was leading that nation and I believe this is still true today!

Then, why did King David call for a census of Israel.

*1Ch 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

Why did Satan stand up against Israel? Israel was God’s people as the name suggest!

What was the result of this census? “And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,”

We should remember the Book of Job because our God does not ever change!

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

The Book of Zechariah:

Zec 3:1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

Satan is in reality an angel of the Lord who rebelled against the Lord and has become the adversary of God’s creation, especially all mankind.

But Satan is still a tool that the Lord uses in the fulfillment of Scripture. Satan does not have free reign to hinder God’s people but those opposed to the Lord can be used of Satan and there is nothing they can do about it until they repent and come to the Lord.

2Ti_2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Those who are caught up in the snares of the Devil do not have the ability to say no to him!

Satan is the very opposite of a guardian angel!

It was to Joab, the General of all the armies of Israel who was to conduct this census, which means David wanted to know how large an army he could raise if he went to war.

Joab knew this was not a good thing and Joab did not get a complete count.

Joab had seen what it means to have the Lord on your side in the many battles of Israel.

We already know that the size of David’s army was irrelevant when David obeyed the commands of God!

Rom_8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

David’s pride began to cause him problems!

When we think of ourselves as better than others it is always sinful!

Most of our politicians are like this today and this is the reason they cannot form a government for the people.

The little power we have given to our government has become a monster demanding more and more power when this was never the intention of our Constitution!

It is not the people who are deplorable, it is the politicians themselves!

David was a king, but David was not the best king to rule Israel.

That position is reserved for the Lord, who when He returns, will rule this world with a Rod of IRON which means by His Own Power!

There will be no rebellion against the Lord in those days!

*1Ch 21:2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

The Lord is always displeased with our sin and He should be, but the sin of any national ruler is an even greater sin!

Rom_13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

We should know by now that even the greatest Christian can slip and fall and bring God’s judgment upon them.

We are aware of God’s forgiveness, but we must be aware of God’s judgment because it will certainly come for disobedience.

We need to be praying for God’s mercy, after we have been forgiven because we know He is also full of mercy because He cares for us!

It is easy to say how stupid King David was, but how many of us have sat down and counted our money just to see how much we have after our needs have been met.

It is unimportant after God has provided enough to meet our needs!

The size of David’s army was never important! It was the fact that David was a man whose heart was with God.

It is more important that we know our Savior, who is Christ the Lord, than to put our faith in money or in other humans, or in anything else.

Israel was surrounded by its enemies and we would think that it was important for David to know the size of its army, but God’s people cannot be defeated by any army if God is on or side.

We must never yield to any temptation by Satan!

We cannot follow the Word of God and yield to the Devil, these are two different paths!

Even Joab had now realized that the strength of David was in His God and not in the number of people of Israel.

2Sa 24:3 And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?

Either we are going to allow the Lord to rule our lives, or we are going to give in to Satan and these are the only choices we have.

It is far better to allow the Lord to rule in our lives!

Joab could not change the mind of the king!

Joab did not do a complete count because he knew this thing was not important and the king was wrong.

We should understand that Satan has never had even one clever idea!

There is not one good thing in the heart of Satan!

*1Ch 21:7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

We must understand that Israel has always been surrounded by nations who had greater armies so, there has been nothing greater than the survival of the Jews.

What we have seen throughout history is, that those neighbors of Israel that have been defeated, time after time, and there is only one answer for that and it is that Jehovah has always been on their side.

God did allow for the scattering of the Jews and God has seen fit to bring them back to their land.

In fact, one of the great prophecies of the Bible began May 14, 1948, when Israel again became a nation and were located upon the land that God had given to them.

Now the world can say what they will, but these things cannot be denied!

All those who want war with Jehovah God are foolish and it will only lead to their own death.

King David had forgotten these things himself.

It has never been about the size of Israel’s army; it has always been about their faith in Jehovah God.

It is the same today and we should be extremely cautious in finding truth in any public opinion of the nation of Israel.

There is great danger in so-called righteous socialism because we would be in danger of losing our personal convictions in our relationship with our Holy God.

This is what is going on in America today, just as King David was about to fall into this trap in his day.

David had pride in the empire he thought he had built, when it was Jehovah God who had caused it to happen because even God will never go against His own written Word.

The Lord would not stand for it!

Yielding to temptation is never a good thing!

We hear our president tell us every day of the things he has done and his Bidenomics.

If Donald Trump has a fault, it is also in saying the things that he would do.

He needs to be saying the things that God is directing him to do!

It is too late for the demnocrats as they all have left the Word of God for Marxism.

Pride and conceit leads to terrible evil and David realized his sin.

*1Ch 21:8 And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

Confession is the first step to a renewed relationship with the Lord!

The sin had been committed so; the chastisement of the Lord would still have to take place.

This is another thing we, as God’s people should realize today.

When sin has been committed then a penalty must be paid!

It is foolish to ignore the Word of God and America will find this out just as King David did!

Just as God sent the Prophet Gad to David, God sends His Pastors and Preachers today.

Of course, God has not sent any of those who ignore the Word of God, those are of course Satan’s children including the Pope when he goes against the Word of God.

There is no modern Gospel, there is only the Living Word of God that comes from the Living God!

The prophet Gad had been informing David even before David became king so, the Word of God does not change, ever!

God allowed David three choices:

1Ch 21:12 Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

David knew that he had to depend upon the “Mercy” of God!

This what we have to do today because God’s “Mercy” brings God’s “Grace”.

The Lord sent the plague as King David had chosen.

The Lord allowed David to see something that many who are left behind will see after the Church is called to Heaven.

1Ch 21:16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

David begged for “mercy” to be shown to the people for he knew he was at fault and he only.

David knew he needed to make a sacrifice to the Lord and David was on the threshing-floor of Ornan.

In the time of David, the top of a large bare rock was used as a threshing-floor.

The sheaves were carried to this rock floor in carts and spread upon that rock and a yoke of oxen would be driven round over that crop of sheaves.

Sometimes these oxen were yoked to a sort of machine consisting of a heavy board with pieces of steel or rock fasten to the bottom of the board.

*1Ch 21:21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
1Ch 21:22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

No matter what is going on in our lives, we can ask God for His Mercy!

What did the Lord Jesus say about “mercy”?

Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

If we show “mercy” then we can obtain the mercy of God!

We find if we read the Scriptures that “mercy” and “truth” are linked together most all the time.

A “mercy” that is constant and “faithful” will not deceive!

All the things we receive from the Lord are because of His “Mercy”!

What is the truth of God?

Pro 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

America is under the influence of sin and immorality and it is these things that keep our nation from being a righteous nation and our nation may never be a righteous nation ever again!

One thing we had better do is to mend our divisiveness and get back to trusting in the Lord as we approach these end times.

We must change the leadership in the White House!

Corruption cannot be healed it must be removed!

Regardless of what the Muslim say, this threshing floor of Ornan is the exact same place where the Muslim built the Dome of the Rock, just to keep it from God’s people!

In fact, that whole piece of land that was bought from Ornan is the place called the Temple Mount today.

Then the final task was to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Threshing floors were an integral part of agriculture in biblical times.

 A threshing floor was a specially prepared outdoor surface where harvested grain crops were beaten or trampled to separate the grain kernels from the straw and chaff.

Threshing floors in the Bible served both practical and symbolic purposes related to harvesting, purification, judgment, and the covenant with God.

What did the Lord Jesus say?

Mat 9:37  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 

Mat 9:38  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. 

After crops were harvested in the field, they would be brought to the threshing floor to be threshed.

Threshing is the process of separating the edible grains of wheat and barley from the inedible chaff that surrounds them.

The laborers of the harvest were to bring the sheaves to the threshing floor.

This is a type of witnessing for the Lord. We can find many things in typology in those sheaves and the threshing floor.

Remember that old Gospel song, “We will come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves”  witnessing for the Lord and bringing those sheaves to God’s threshing floor, where we find that “Rock” threshing floor.

There are many false Churches today because some threshing floors use only hard dirt, or some even use a wooden floor and some modern churches today use a concrete slab, but if you do not go to the “Rock”, the Rock threshing floor you cannot be threshed to reveal that perfect wheat that is usable to God.

Those sheaves are useless unless they go to the threshing floor.

You can get a special blessing by doing a Bible study of the sheaves and the threshing floor!

By spreading the harvested stalks out on the threshing floor and beating them with sticks or having oxen walk over them to crush the stalks, the loosened grains would then be tossed into the air using winnowing fork or a fan, so that the lighter chaff would blow away in the wind, leaving only the heavier grain kernels behind.

Threshing floors needed to be durable enough to withstand the trampling hooves of oxen and the repeated beating of the grain stalks.

These “Rock” floors were often located on hills or other elevated sites that were exposed to more wind. The increased airflow helped blow away the chaff during winnowing.

One common way to thresh grain was simply beating it with a stick, rod, or threshing tool.

The threshing tool was usually made of wood and was several feet long with one end flattened like a paddle.

We should remember Ruth in the Bible.

Rth 2:17  So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. 

Another threshing method, often done along with beating, was to have oxen walk over the stalks and crush the grain out with their hooves.

Deu 25:4  Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. 

Allowing the animals to eat some of the grain motivated them to crush it out efficiently with their heavy steps.

Using animals was faster than beating the stalks by hand.

After threshing by beating and/or animal trampling, the farmer still had to separate the crushed kernels of grain from the discarded stalks and husks, known as chaff.

They would toss the threshed material into the air so that the wind could blow away the lighter chaff while the heavier grain fell back down.

Rth 3:2  And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. 

We know Boaz as a type of Christ.

This work of winnowing corn was usually ended with a feast just as one day we will sit at the table of the Lord.

Threshing was essential to make grain edible for cooking and baking.

Without removing the inedible stalks and husks, the grain would have little value as food.

Any study of the Bible will reveal that God frequently uses imagery of threshing and winnowing to picture God separating the righteous from the wicked, God’s people from their enemies.

Isa 41:15  Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. 

Isa 41:16  Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. 

This is a picture of the “judgment” of God.

Jer 15:6  Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting. 

Jer 15:7  And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.

This is a picture of God’s judgment as the Lord’s fan will clean up the threshing floor after He has separated the righteous from the unrighteous.

In Bible times it required intense labor to thresh a harvest on the threshing floor.

We are to be diligent in the work of the Lord!

What was the importance of threshing God’s people. Removing the undesired, those that were not God’s children.

Gen 30:32  I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. 

Gen 30:33  So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. 

God will only accept those He can make perfect!

Threshing floors were important places!

King Solomon requested grains and oils in Babylon’s threshing floors for his inheritance.

As key locations that embodied productive harvests, threshing floors also took on wider symbolic meanings around fruitfulness and reward.

Threshing floors also are used to indicate the judgment of God as we have seen.

Jer 30:23  Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. 

Jer 30:24  The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

In the end God will gather all His enemies to His threshing floor which is Jerusalem!

Mic 4:11  Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. 

Mic 4:12  But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. 

Mic 4:13  Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. 

God expressed commands David to build the altar at Araunah’s threshing floor on Mount Moriah specifically.

2Sa 24:18  And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. 

This transaction solidified the site’s role as location of temples and sacrifices in Jerusalem for years, including the First and Second temples.

Later, David’s son Solomon would build the Lord’s temple on this same threshing floor, establishing this as a very holy site in Jerusalem.

2Ch 3:1  Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 

This shows us the importance of the threshing floor as a place of meeting between God and His people.

 God appeared to Solomon and told him that he had chosen this place for the Temple and the Altar.

When we come to Church, here at Gethsemane, we are coming to the threshing floor God has chosen for us!

Today this world sits on God’s threshing floor and God will thresh this world one day soon.

The study of the threshing floor and the separation of the wheat from the chaff is a great study for all of us.

*1Ch 21:23 And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.
1Ch 21:24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: “for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost”.

David, hearing that so many thousands of the people were being fatally stricken by the plague, David humbled himself before the Lord.

David had been given three choices to make concerning the Census he had taken:

1Ch 21:12 Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

The parallel chapter in 2 Samuel says this:

2Sa 24:13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

And David’s choice was:

2Sa 24:14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

Most every Christian would choose the same as David!

“They that fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and humble their souls in his sight, saying, We will fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of men: for as is his majesty, so is his mercy.”

The Scriptures say that David actually saw the angel doing all this destruction:

2Sa 24:17 And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.

David changed his mind, but his greatest need was for him to offer a sacrifice for that sin of pride, and God commanded him to build an altar and to build this altar upon the land where this plague had been stopped.

This is why King David bought this land and this is why the Muslim have no claim to this piece of land.

The place of the Dome of the Rock is a place where God commanded David to build this altar.

Notice David refused for these things to be given to him and he also refused for Ornan to give him a discount for these things, David asked for the full price to be paid for these things!

In reality, this in typology means, we will offer up our sins to the Rock who is the Lord Jesus Christ, all sin not clinging to those pet sins we try to hold on to.

Deu 32:3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

2Sa 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.
2Sa 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

A Psalm of David:

Psa 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
Psa 18:3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

So David bought all the land from Ornan and built an altar to the Lord and later King Solomon built the Temple, called the Temple of Solomon, but it was a House of Prayer because King David had prayed to God to stop the plague that was killing so many of the Jews.

Satan is that plague that needs to be stopped today!

*1Ch 21:25  So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. 

1Ch 21:26 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.
1Ch 21:27 And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

God accepted the atoning sacrifice offered by David, the Lord forgave David of his sins and God answered the prayer of David.

The Lord stopped His hand of chastisement at this place of the Rock.

We can see that in typology, we know this Rock floor of Ornan’s threshing floor represents the true Rock of Grace, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As the Jews return to know the truth of Jesus Christ, they will find a way to rebuild the House of Prayer that once stood on that site and the Muslim will have no say in the matter.

Another thing we had better remember, we must never offer to God some sacrifice that did cost us nothing.

If there is no cost, there is no real sacrifice!

Remember the Jews had to offer their best animals who had no blemishes at all.

King David used this place as his place of worship the remainder of his days out of his “Fear of God”.

1Ch 21:28 At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.
1Ch 21:29 For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.
1Ch 21:30 But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD.

Amen

The Lord Has A Plan For You

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

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