Genesis 39: 6-20
We have seen how Joseph's skillful management of Potiphar's estate has been so successful that Potiphar left him in charge of everything, and didn't have to bother with any of it with Joseph there.
(6) ... Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. (7) It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."
Oh-oh, now comes some intrigue! Let's see what is going down here.
He's a very handsome and capable and confident young man, and Potiphar's wife has a roving eye! Joseph would be a prize catch for her, if she can seduce him!
(8) But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. (9) There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?"
This is going to mean trouble for her. She is the master's wife, and can do whatever she wants, but now this slave is not going to obey her and give in to her seductions.
He tells her that his standards are very high, and that his master trusts him, he will not take for himself what his master has reserved (or must have reserved) for himself alone, and he also does not want to commit this grievous sin against the Lord God who he worships.
(10) As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.
Potiphar's wife does not understand his standards, and she thinks she can wear him down, ragging on him every day, day after day after day. She just doesn't get that he is faithful to his God, she's probably never seen this kind of resolute before. He doesn't even want to be in the same room with her.
So she is going to force his hand.
(11) Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.
Where was everyone else? She's sent all the other servants out so she can be alone with him; then he'll give in, because he'll think that he won't get caught. I wonder how many times she's done this!
(12) She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.
And she makes her play for him. She grabs him and tries to force him to her bed! But he won't fight to get out of her clutches, he just slips out of his garment she's gripping tightly, and runs away from her. He's got to get out of there as quickly as he can. He knows to run from temptation!
(13) When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, (14) she called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed. (15) "When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside."
Now she has to give all the rest of the servants the story they are to back her up with, and you know they'll have to stick by her or she's slander them, too.
(16) So she left his garment beside her until his master came home.
Now she'll play the "poor, pitiful me" game, for Potiphar's sake.
(17) Then she spoke to him with these words, "The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; (18) and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside." (19) Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, "This is what your slave did to me," his anger burned.
He realizes that his wife just caused him a lot of grief. He has to protect the reputation of his household, but it means losing the best manager he's ever had, and probably also the blessing of his God that prospered the estate so much. No wonder his anger burned!
(20) So Joseph's master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.
Potiphar didn't send him to the common jail, where the criminals went, but to the elite jail where the king's prisoners were put. But he was still fired from his job, and in jail.
We know that God is guiding and directing and leading Joseph in every step of his journey, and we see that Joseph has such a grounding in his faith in God, that he trusts Him enough to be faithful to His high standards of conduct.
Joseph had the sense to run away, and not try to argue his way out of temptation. We can read in I Corinthians 10: 13 and 14, that God will "make a way to escape" and that we are to "flee" the temptations that come over us. Contrariwise, we are commanded to, "resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4: 7).
So Joseph was wise, even in his youth, to run away when he was cornered. So we all are to run away when we are faced with the temptation to do anything against ourselves, each other, or our Lord God we worship. This calls for discernment, to discern what would really be loving, and what would be only co-dependent.
But when we face bare evil, this is not a temptation, it's war; and we are to be wearing the Armor of God to take our stand in the battle, and after having done all, we will be able to stand (Ephesians 6: 13).
O my Father, thank you so much that Joseph was able to withstand the constant barrage of Potiphar's wife, and to flee the situation before he would be compromised. Thank You for his strength and his faithfulness to You, Father, even when circumstances looked contrary to him. You were purposefully placing him where he would need to be, to fulfill Your plan for him.
My Father, You have planned out each of our paths we are to walk, and You also strengthen us when our circumstances seem contrary to us. You are worthy of our complete trust, so that we also can maintain our integrity without being compromised when we are cornered. You have said that there would always be a way out, so that we can be confident in every temptation, that we never have to give in, to look for the way out to run away.
O Father, You are so good to us! Please send out all of Your children into all the nations of the world, so that every living person everywhere will be introduced to You, in Your Love, and Your provision in Your Son to rescue all of us from ourselves. Bring every one of Your embryonic children to the birth into Your family, Father, and fill Your great house with all of Your uncountable progeny.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, do come quickly, Lord Jesus!
