39
1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potipher, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, Bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. Gen 37:36
As I have commented back in chapter thirty seven: of all accounts Joseph was around the age of Seventeen when he was sold into slavery in Egypt, thus beginning the four hundred years of affliction as told to Abraham by God almighty. I would refer the reader to go back to chapter thirty seven in my commentaries to get an understanding of how I came to this determination (as I feel I was led by the Spirit in my understanding), Abraham lived in Egypt during the time of famine in the land of Canaan (Gen 12:10), during Abraham’s stay he is given the Egyptian handmaid Hagar, who bares a son by Abraham, named Ishmael (the father of the Arab nation), and as we will read later on, Joseph proclaims to his brothers that God brought him into Egypt to preserve the descendants of Israel, again during a time of famine in all the land ( Gen 45:7), so as to save their lives by a great deliverance. God even describes the Egyptians as His people (Isa 19:25), and in the end times God will humble the people, and then bless them along with Israel, and Assyria. Egypt is used time and time again, in some form or fashion throughout their history, to serve His purpose, and His plan for Israel, and eventually for the salvation of all nations, who would be blessed by Him, who sits at the right hand of God to this day and forever more. God sent His only begotten Son (Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), into Egypt when He was a child to save him from the Roman soldiers who were sent by King Herod for the purpose of killing Him ( Matt 2:13-15)
2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. vs.21 Gen 26:24; Acts 7:9 3 And his Master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. Ps. 1:3 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had put under his authority. 5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and the field. Gen 12:2, 3
Even though Joseph is not blessed with the blessing of Abraham: That of the promised seed in which all nations would be blessed, God is with him and will bless him in all he does throughout his life. Like his father Jacob, Joseph went off to a far place, away from his family, And so to when Jacob went into the land of Padan Aram, in a sense he to was a slave for fourteen years to his mothers brother (Laban the Syrian), laboring in his house for the right to marry Rachel (the wife that was nearest and dearest to his heart). while Jacob and Joseph served their masters, God was with them, and both Laban the Syrian, and Potipher, captain of the guard of Pharaoh, saw that the Lord was with them, and they too were were prosperous in all they had because of the Lord being with both Jacob and Joseph. The remainder of the book of Genesis is about the life of Joseph, a total of eleven chapters out of fifty are dedicated to his life. only Abraham has more chapters in the book of Genesis that account of his life (thirteen all total). Make no mistake about it, Joseph is near and dear to God’s heart, even though the promised seed does not come through him, yet Joseph is a type of the promised seed of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we have already seen early on in his life, and we will see more similarities between Joseph’s life and that of Jesus Christ. Instead on elaborating on them now, I will point out these similarities as I read through these final chapters and point them out as I go. There is also one more important aspect of Joseph and his descendants that I must point out concerning the end times, spoken of throughout the scriptures in prophecies. We can find the first prophecy of what is to come of his descendants thousands of years later, on thru the latter days leading up to the return of our Lord and soon coming Jesus Christ. The first part of this prophecy is foretold by Joseph’s father when he was old and nearing the end of his life in Genesis chapter forty eight, and picks up again in chapter forty nine (Gen 48:1-22, 49: 22-36). for those of us who live in Great Britain and America, first and foremost, these prophecies are very important to us. But also to all the other English speaking countries that trace their roots from Great Britain are a part of these prophecies. There is too much to go in detail here, in this format, to explain exactly what I mean. I would recommend that the reader click on the link: The United States and Great Britain in Bible Prophecy. This can be downloaded, or ordered free of charge through The United Church of God’s website.
6 Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form of appearance. Gen 29:17 7 And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 2 Sam. 13:11; ,Prov. 2:16-19 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.
Potipher trusted Joseph so much that he didn’t even bother to micro manage his house and all that he had. As the earlier verses stated: Potipher Knew that the Lord was with him. Just because the Egyptians worshiped many Gods, this doesn’t mean that they were unaware of the Almighty Creator God. it was only six hundred years ago that the great flood came upon the earth. That is not a very long time when you think about the grand scheme of things. Even though Potipher worshiped many Idols, in my opinion, he knew who the one true God was, he could see that this God, “The God,” was with Joseph, and his trust in Joseph could also be telling in his trust for the one true God, whom he see’s blessing Joseph in all that he does. Which may be why Potipher wasn’t even concerned with all that he had except what he ate. Joseph was young during this time, maybe seventeen to twenty years old when he caught the eye of Potipher’s wife, who was probably much older than him, may be fifteen to twenty years older. So Joseph was in his prime, physically speaking. He is described as being handsome in both form and appearance, meaning he was a good looking man who also had a great physique (Like that of a bodybuilder maybe), Joseph undoubtedly was very wise for his age, Which made him even more attractive to the wife of Potipher. Even though Joseph was a slave, he did not live the normal slave life. As he say’s himself, “There is no one greater in this house than I.” most people, with this kind of prestige and power would let this kind of power overwhelm them to the point where they feel that they can do anything they want and no one dare stop them. Not Joseph however, He was his father Jacob’s favorite, meaning, to me at least, that he was brought up in the teachings of the Lord by his father, more than all his other brothers. Joseph was twenty six when his Grandfather Isaac died in the year 2228 Ac; According to my calculations (Determined thru the scriptures), I will Refer the reader back to my commentaries in chapter thirty seven to see how I came up with this determination. In my humble opinion, I believe that not only did Joseph learn the ways of God thru his father Jacob, but also thru the teachings of his Grandfather Isaac, during the first seventeen years of his life, before being sold into slavery. With this said, I believe Joseph was well versed with God’s laws, statutes, and ordinances that were known up to this time. This law against adultery was revealed by God, to the patriarchs as “SIN,” at this point in time since creation, but not all of God’s laws as we know of them today, and during the time of the Exodus, had been revealed to the patriarchs. I say this because anyone who reads this, may be asking themselves about the law of incest, between the marriages of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Who all married there cousins, or stepsister in Abraham’s case), and also had more than one wife (which were called concubines at the time), meaning Hagar, Abraham’s concubine, Bilhah, and Zilpah (Jacobs concubines), and let’s not forget the marriage of Jacob between the two sisters Rachel and Leah (Jacobs cousins). Since the scriptures cannot conflict with one another, it only stands to reason that these laws (although still “sin” since the time of creation in God’s eyes), were not yet given to the patriarchs. And this being the case, God would not hold Abraham, Isaac and Jacob accountable for breaking these laws of God. The patriarchs do not know what God defines as sin until these laws were revealed to them by the Almighty God ( Rom 7:7-10, Jas 4:17). Verse nine is another example of the laws of God, in this case, one of the “Ten Commandments” were given well before the time of the Exodus, before their was even an Israeli people (for those who say that the laws on mount Sinai were meant strictly for the Israeli nation. The laws of God were meant for all men, not just the Jewish people, just as the Sabbath was made for all men, and not just for the Jewish people.
9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Ps. 51:4; Prov. 6:28
Joseph states plainly to Potipher’s wife in verse nine that he cannot do this great wickedness of adultery and sin against God. Make no bones about it, it is Adultery Joseph is speaking of when he refers to this “Great wickedness” as a sin against God. As it is written in 1 Cor 6:18, and referenced in verse twelve: We are to flee fornication for when we commit this sin we are indeed sinning against our own body, which was bought with a price: that being the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 6:20), We as baptized members of the church receive the Holy Spirit at the time of baptism ( Acts 2:38), We are then joined with Christ, God the father, and the Holy Spirit and become one with them (John 14:16-17, 15:1-5), They now abide in us, and our body is no longer ours but God’s. therefore our Body becomes a temple of the Holy Ghost ( 1 Cor 6: 13-19, Rom 12:5), so when we defile our body ( As in fornication), we are in essence defiling God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Joseph is speaking of when he asks, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” As it is written, “The two (Man and woman), shall become one flesh (Gen 2:24), so to, we the church are married to God the Father, and also become one. So when a man lies with a harlot we in essence remove ourselves (Our body), from the Lord, in turn for the harlot and become one with the harlot and no longer the Lords. And in this sin we commit adultery against God.
10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her. 11 But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12 that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. 1 Cor. 6:18 13 And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, 14 that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought into us a Hebrew to mock us. He came into me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 “And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”
This wasn’t just a one time temptation Joseph was going thru. It appears that the wife of Potipher was very persistent in her intentions to lie with Joseph, which, in my opinion makes it even more difficult to flee from on a day to day basis, especially when it comes to the lust of the flesh. God intended for man and woman to marry and have many offspring, because of this He made the woman to be very attractive to men, in all ways He created them as something that men just couldn’t resist, so that they wouldn’t shy away from having a relationships with them. Joseph had to be struggling with this temptation continuously, yet he never gave into it. I Imagine that when Joseph was alone at nights in his room that he prayed often, never ceasing, asking for God to give him strength to overcome. It is times like this that we must go to God for strength, for our carnal mind, and fleshly body cannot do this alone, it takes God’s Spirit to help us thru these difficult times. As Paul said, and i’m paraphrasing, That, that I will to do, I do not do, but that, that I will not to do, that I do, (Rom 7:14-25), I think it would be safe to say that all men, at one time or another in their life, have had their Joseph moment, And I think it would also be safe to say that most men have probably caved into the temptation of this lust of the flesh: Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom 7:24), It is in our nature, designed by our Creator, to be sexually drawn to women so as to pro-create. But only according to the laws of God we are to have relations with a woman, and this law can be described, in a sense, back in Gen 2:24, “therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh” The Hebrew definition for cleave is the Strong’s concordance number (H1952), meaning to cling to, adhere to, be joined to one another , stick to. Notice that God says “Cleave to his wife” not just to any woman but his wife. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, This proverb written in a play: The Mourning Bride, back in the late 1600’s. This proverb was just as true then, today, and yes even in the time of Joseph. Potipher’s wife wanted Joseph something awful, and when he literally ran from her, it must have felt like a slap in the face to her. she has been rejected in love, and by a slave no doubt, “a Hebrew ! of all people, to toy with me in such a manner’ “Who does he think he is? I’ll show him!” she must have been thinking to herself. The evil that Potipher’s wife intends upon Joseph, God will use it for good, to carry out His plan for the salvation of His people the Hebrew nation.
16 So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. 17 Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came into me to mock me; 18 “so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.” 19 So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused. Prov. 6:34, 35 20 Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in prison. vv. 2,5
The Lord is truly with Joseph during this trying time in his life. In my opinion this accusation of rape against Joseph, by Potipher’s wife, would be a death sentence to any slave in Egypt, especially against such an high official as that of Potipher. Yes, Potipher’s anger was kindled, but not enough so as to put to Joseph to death. It was by the grace of God that Joseph survives this ordeal. How else can one explain why Joseph wasn’t put to death? One of God’s commandment’s is to not bear false witness (Exo 20:16), It is also written in God’s laws that by two witnesses may a man be put to death, but by one witness alone both parties must stand before the Lord, Priest’s and judges of the day. If the witness is proven to have falsely accused his brother, then his punishment would be that which the accuser thought should have been done to his brother (Deut 17:6, 19: 15-19), This law was meant to put fear in men who would falsely accuse one another, and put an end to what God considers an “Evil act” (Deut 19: 19, 20). I’m not saying that this law was on the books in Egypt at the time, as a way of explaining why Joseph wasn’t put to death. But what I am saying is that one day we must all stand before the Lord and make an account for the things we have done in this life. Vengeance is mine saith the lord (Rom 12:19), Just as Joseph will one day be ruler over all of Egypt, and he will forgive his brothers for what they did to him, we never read where Joseph sought revenge against Potipher’s wife once he had the power to do so. But I imagine she trembled at the thought of what would happen to her when he had this authority. Again, Joseph being a type of Jesus in his time, found it in his heart to forgive her of this “evil act.”
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. vv. 2, 4 22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. vv. 4, 5 23 The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper. vv. 2-5
Once again Joseph’s life is turned upside down, but also once again the Lord is with him, and shows him mercy. Joseph is put in charge of all the prisoners by the overseer of the prison. And as it was in Potipher’s house, the keeper of the prison did not take heed to how Joseph handled the prisoners and left all matters of the prisoners in Joseph’s hands. The Lord was with Joseph all this time, and again everything Joseph did prospered during his stay there, Because the Lord was with him.