Genesis 39:1-23
READING
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”
8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside.12 She caught him by his cloak andsaid, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.
13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
Questions for Paper before we begin…
What does it mean that God is with you?
What should we be doing as Christians?
What is the timing for God to take care of things when they are going bad?
What should we be doing on this side of heaven?
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Messages for Men today – Be above reproach and be so good that your ‘master’ can fully trust all that you do – what can you do to be above reproach and what can you do to be fully trusted and counted on by your boss and wife?
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Messages for Women today – Be a woman of one man and appreciate the man that is of one woman - What can you do to assist your marriage and your man’s eyes and reputation?
BOARD – What is our station and whatsatisfies us?
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Setting
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Success
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Seductress (or any distraction)
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Setup
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Sentence
The setting - 1
1 – Reminder of where Joseph was
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Hebrews 13:5-6 “… God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’”
The success – 2-6
2 – Success because the Lord was with Him
3 – People noticed God was with him and that God gave the success
4 – Also found favor in the eyes of Potiphar and was put in charge
5 – Much the same as Jacob going to Egypt – others were blessed because of God being with Joseph
6 – He didn’t have to think about anything except what he ate, setup of what Joseph looked like
Ecclesiastes 9:10 – Do what you do well wherever you are
Colossians 3:23 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters
Ephesians 6:7 - Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people
Do other people know that you do what you do because God is with you? How would they know that today?
The seductress – 7-12
Proverbs 7
7 – Joseph’s outer appearance was noticed and Potiphar’s wife
beware of the seductress
8 – 9 – He wanted only to fulfill his obligations with Honor – adultery is a big deal
10 – She was persistent and so was he
12 – don’t be alone with another woman – above reproach – he quickly left when he could regardless of his cloak
What are some practical ways we need to be above reproach as Christian men?
1 Peter 3:14, 16 “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. … keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”
Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, because great is your reward in heaven”
Romans 8:31-34 “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
The setup – 13-17
Psalm 105:17-19 – This was being SENT?
13 – 19 – The sport – by accident but then she still wanted to take him down – involved others in the lies and looked for the man that didn’t know that it was her to punish him
2 Peter 2:9 “the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment.”
What was Joseph’s response? Do we know? Is this right for this to happen to Joseph? Remember that Joseph as SENT
The sentence – 20-23
21 – The Lord was with Him – does that mean that the Lord was not with him before? Of course not
22 – Sounds familiar
23 – Joseph’s care was appreciated and well regarded
John 15:5 [Jesus said] "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
Joseph Continued on Being what He is called to be - a GREAT SERVANT – What is your calling? What are you doing - are you doing it in an EXCELLENT fashion?
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