CONQUERING TEMPTATION
GENESIS 39:1-23
LAST WEEK WE BEGAN A STUDY ON TEMPTATION AND THE CONQUERING OF TEMPTATION, BY LOOKING AT THE ROOT ISSUES OF TEMPTATION.
WE DISCOVERED THAT TEMPTATION IS NOT A SIN, BUT IT CAN LEAD TO SIN. SATAN WILL APPLY TEMPTATION TO BOTH THE CHRISTIAN AND THE NON-CHRISTIAN. HE WANTS TO STEAL VICTORY FROM THE CHRISTIAN, AND MAINTAIN HIS OWNERSHIP OF THE LIVES WHO HAVE NOT MADE DECISIONS FOR CHRIST.
WE SAID THAT SATAN WAS THE MASTER DECEIVER AND THAT SOMETIMES THE VICTIMS OF HIS TEMPTATION WERE NOT THOSE HE TEMPTED, BUT THOSE WHO WOULD BE VICTIMIZED AS A RESULT OF HIS TEMPTATION.
TEMPTATION CAN COME IN MANY FORMS. SOMETIMES THE FORMS MAY LOOK VERY PROPER, AND CAN ADVANCE PERSONAL OR CORPORATE CAUSES, EVEN THE CHURCH, UNDER THE SUBTLE REALITY THAT SATAN WILL NOT CONTEST ADVANCES FOR THE CHURCH THAT ARE TEMPORARY IN NATURE, AND CAN LEAD TO DIVISION IN THE LONG RUN.
TODAY WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT GENESIS CHAPTER 39 AND SEE HOW JOSEPH DEALS WITH TEMPTATION. WE WILL SEE THAT NOT YIELDING TO TEMPTATION CAN LEAD TO NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES IN THIS WORLD, BUT EVENTUALLY THE PROPER CHOICE WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL.
GENESIS 39:1-6:
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.
THERE IS AN OLD EXPRESSION, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO GO DOWN AND HIT BOTTOM BEFORE YOU CAN BE BUILT UP, AND THIS IS WHAT IS HAPPENING TO JOSEPH AT THIS TIME. THREE TIMES IN CHAPTERS 37-39 JOSEPH DECENDS INTO TROUBLE:
1. JOSEPH WAS LOWERED INTO THE WILDERNESS CISTERN BY HIS BROTHERS. (GEN 37:24-25)
2. HE IS SOLD INTO SLAVERY AND MUST DESCEND INTO EGYPT (GEN. 37:36, 39:1)
3. HIS DESCEND INTO THE POTIPHAR’S PRISON (GEN. 39:20-23)
TWO THINGS ARE MADE CLEAR IN THIS PASSAGE. ONE IS THE COMPARISON ON DEALING WITH TEMPTATION BETWEEN JUDAH IN CHAPTER 38 AND JOSEPH IN 39. THE SECOND IS THAT THE LORD IS SOVEREIGN EVEN IN THE DIFFICULT TIMES OF LIFE.
PART OF THE LORDS PLAN AND THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY WAS FOR JOSEPH TO END UP IN A POSITION OF PROMINENCE IN EGYPT. THE DESCENTS THAT JOSEPH HAD TO MAKE WERE ALL PART OF THE METHOD GOT CHOSE TO PUT JOSEPH INTO POWER.
JOSEPH RESIDENCE IN EGYPT WOULD SIGNAL THE BEGINNING OF THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY TO ABRAHAM:
GENESIS 15:13: THEN THE LORD SAID TO HIM, “KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT FOR FOUR HUNDRED YEARS YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE STRANGERS IN A COUNTRY NOT THEIR OWN AND THAT THEY WILL BE ENSLAVED AND MISTREATED THERE.
THE STATEMENT “GOD WAS WITH HIM AND THE LORD GAVE HIM SUCCESS IN EVERYTHING HE DID.” WOULD BE A COMMON PHRASE IN REFERRING TO JOSEPH. THIS WOULD BE THE REAOSN THAT POTIPHAR WOULD SEE JOSEPH AS BEING SO VALUABLE. IF HE HAD JOSEPH, HE HAD THE BLESSINGS OF JOSEPH’S GOD.
JOSEPH WAS A HOUSELHOLD SERVANT AND THIS GAVE POTIPHAR FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF JOSEPH’S ABILITY, IT ALSO MADE HIM VULNERABLE TO THE SEXUAL OVERTURES OF POTIPHAR’S WIFE.
JOSEPH WAS TO OVERSEE EVERYTHING THAT POTIPHAR OWNED. HE WAS TO BE HIS ‘ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT” AS WE NOW CALL IT. WE CAN SUMMARIZE THAT GOD’S BLESSING WAS ON JOSEPH AND THE HOUSE OPERATED SMOOTHLY AND POTIPHAR INCREASED HIS HOLDINGS.
GENESIS 39:6-19:
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 AND SAID, “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.”
THE OPPORTUNITY FOR GREAT ADVANCEMENT ALSO BRINGS THE POTENTIAL FOR GREAT VULNERABILITY, AND THIS WAS CERTAINLY THE CASE FOR JOSEPH.
IN THIS PART OF THE CHAPTER WE FIND THAT JOSEPH IS A VERY HANDSOME YOUNG MAN, PROBABLY IN HIS EARLY TWENTIES.
TEMPTATION ALWAYS STARTS WITH THE THOUGHT. POTIPHAR’S WIFE SEES JOSEPH AND SEES HIM AS “WELL BUILT AND HANDSOME.” THE HEBREW EXPRESSION USED HERE ARE SIMILAR TO THE ONES USED TO DESCRIBE RACHEL AND ESTHER:
GENESIS 12:11: LEAH HAD WEAK EYES, BUT RACHEL HAD A LOVELY FIGURE AND WAS BEAUTIFUL.
ESTHER 2:7: MORDECAI HAD A COUSIN NAMED HADASSAH, WHOM HE HAD BROUGHT UP BECAUSE SHE HAD NEITHER FATHER NOR MOTHER. THIS YOUNG WOMAN, WHO WAS ALSO KNOWN AS ESTHER, HAD A LOVELY FIGURE AND WAS BEAUTIFUL. MORDECAI HAD TAKEN HER AS HIS OWN DAUGHTER WHEN HER FATHER AND MOTHER DIED.
THE CHARACTER OF POTIPHAR’S WIFE IS UNKNOWN, BUT THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT JOSEPH WAS NOT THE FIRST MAN SHE WANTED TO HAVE SEX WITH, AND EVERYTHING WAS MOST LIKELY DONE ON A QUIET SCALE, AS THE PENALTY FOR ADULTERY WAS DEATH.
SHE APPROACHED JOSEPH ON MANY OCCASIONS AND EACH TIME SHE IS REJECTED BY HIM. JOSEPH REFUSED EACH TIME CITING THREE REASONS FOR HIS REFUSAL:
1. THE ABUSE OF TRUST. POTIPHAR HAD PLACED HIM IN A POSITION OF TRUST TO WHICH JOSEPH WAS LOYAL TO.
2. AN OFFENSE AGAINST HER HUSBAND. SHE IS NOT THE POSSESSION OF ANOTHER MAN. HE IS ASKING POTIPHAR’S WIFE TO REMEMBER THAT SHE IS THIS MAN’S WIFE AND AS SUCH, HE SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HER.
3. A SIN AGAINST GOD. JOSEPH UNDERSTOOD THAT TO SIN IN THIS WAY WAS NOT JUST A VIOLATION OF TRUST WITH POTIPHAR, BUT ALSO WITH GOD. MOSAIC LAW REQUIRED THAT ADULTEROUS OFFENDERS BE PUT TO DEATH.
LEVITICUS 20:10: ‘IF A MAN COMMITS ADULTERY WITH ANOTHER MAN’S WIFE—WITH THE WIFE OF HIS NEIGHBOR—BOTH THE ADULTERER AND THE ADULTERESS ARE TO BE PUT TO DEATH.
DAVID RECOGNIZED THIS IN HIS PSALM OF CONFESSION:
PSALM 51:4-6: AGAINST YOU, YOU ONLY, HAVE I SINNED AND DONE WHAT IS EVIL IN YOUR SIGHT; SO YOU ARE RIGHT IN YOUR VERDICT AND JUSTIFIED WHEN YOU JUDGE. 5 SURELY I WAS SINFUL AT BIRTH, SINFUL FROM THE TIME MY MOTHER CONCEIVED ME. 6 YET YOU DESIRED FAITHFULNESS EVEN IN THE WOMB; YOU TAUGHT ME WISDOM IN THAT SECRET PLACE.
TO SIN IN THIS WAY WAS NOT ONLY A DESTRUCTION OF THE LOYALTY AND TRUST BETWEEN POTIPHAR AND JOSEPH BUT ALSO BETWEEN GOD AND JOSEPH. JOSEPH WOULD IN FACT HAVE BEEN SAYING THAT HE DIDN’T TRUST GOD TO GET HIM THROUGH THIS TEMPTATION.
THIS BRINGS US TO ANOTHER LESSON ON TEMPTATION. TO YIELD TO ONE TEMPTATION, OPENS THE DOOR FOR YIELDING TO MANY TEMPTATIONS.
THE USE OF THE TERM “DAY AFTER DAY” IS AN INDICATION THAT JOSEPH’S TEMPTATION WAS AN ONGOING THING. LET’S UNDERSTAND THE FACTS HERE. JOSEPH IS A YOUNG MAN, MOST LIKELY IN HIS EARLY TWENTIES WHEN THIS IS HAPPENING, ACCORDING TO COMMENTARIES.
SATAN KNOWS THAT FOR YOUNG MEN SEXUAL TEMPTATION WILL BE THE BEST WEAPON TO USE AGAINST THEM. POTIPHAR’S WIFE MUST HAVE BEEN ATTRACTIVE, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP IN TROUBLE FOR HER TO LOOK FOR SATISFACTION FROM OTHER MEN. IT TEACHES US THAT TEMPTATION IS NOT A PART-TIME EXPERIENCE TO THE BELIEVER.
CALVIN STATED OF JOSEPH:
“HOLY JOSEPH THEREFORE MUST HAVE BEEN ENDOWED WITH EXTRAORDINARY POWER OF THE SPIRIT, SEEINT THAT HE STOOD INVINCIBLE TO THE LAST, AGAINST ALL THE ALLUREMENTS OF THE IMPIOUS WOMAN.”
IT IS ALSO HERE THAT WE FIND JOSEPH’S DEFENSE AGAINST THIS TEMPTATION.
1. HE SET MENTAL BOUNDARIES THAT HE WOULD NOT CROSS. HE DETERMINED IN HIS MIND, BEFORE HE PRACTICED HIS PHYSICAL BOUNDARIES.
2. JOSEPH RAN FROM POTIPHAR’S WIFE. “LIE BESIDE HER OR TO BE WITH HER” IN V. 10 INDICATES THAT JOSEPH NOT ONLY REFUSES TO HAVE SEX WITH HER, HE REFUSES EVEN TO BE IN HER PRESENCE.
GENESIS 39:10: AND THOUGH SHE SPOKE TO JOSEPH DAY AFTER DAY, HE REFUSED TO GO TO BED WITH HER OR EVEN BE WITH HER.
WE MUST SOMETIMES SET MENTAL BOUNDARIES FOR OUR DAILY ACTIVITIES, SOMETIMES EVEN IF THE SITUATION HASN’T PRESENTED ITSELF AS YET.
I HAD A FRIEND IN THE MINISTRY, AND IN A COUNTRY CHURCH MOST OF THE TIME YOU ARE ALONE IN YOUR OFFICE. HE WAS PREPARING A SERMON OR BIBLE STUDY WHEN AN ATTRACTIVE MEMBER OF THE CONGREGATION CAME TO SPEAK WITH HIM.
SHE CAME INTO HIS OFFICE AND TOOK OFF HER COAT AND TO HIS SURPRISE WAS NOT WEARING ANY CLOTHES UNDER THE COAT. HE IMMEDIATELY CALLED HIS WIFE, SAID HE WAS COMING HOME AND ASKED THE WOMAN TO LOCK THE CHURCH DOOR WHEN SHE LEFT.
NOW YOU ARE ALWAYS VULNERABLE TO ACCUSATION BUT AS PETER TEACHES:
1 PETER 2:11-12:
11 DEAR FRIENDS, I URGE YOU, AS FOREIGNERS AND EXILES, TO ABSTAIN FROM SINFUL DESIRES, WHICH WAGE WAR AGAINST YOUR SOUL. 12 LIVE SUCH GOOD LIVES AMONG THE PAGANS THAT, THOUGH THEY ACCUSE YOU OF DOING WRONG, THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD DEEDS AND GLORIFY GOD ON THE DAY HE VISITS US.
ANOTHER THING THAT THIS TELLS US ABOUT TEMPTATION IS THAT SOMETIMES TEMPTATION IS A VERY DELIBERATE PROCESS. POTIPHAR’S WIFE PLANNED THIS VERY CAREFULLY TO GET JOSEPH. IT WAS DONE ON A HOLIDAY WHEN THE SERVANTS WERE AWAY AND THEY WERE ALONE.
SHE DELIBERATELY MADE UP THE STORY OF HOW JOSEPH HAD ATTACKED HER SEXUALLY, AND HAD HIS CLOAK TO BACK UP HER STORY.
THAT WORD CLOAK BY THE WAY IS THE MOST GENERAL TERM FOR CLOTHING USED OVER 200 TIMES IN SCRIPTURE. IT CAN REFER TO A VARIETY OF GARMENTS, SOME SACRED, SOME COMMON, AND WORN BY BOTH MEN AND WOMEN.
WHEN SHE IS REJECTED BY JOSEPH SHE SETS OUT TO RETALIATE AGAINST HIM WITH LIES. BETWEEN VERSES 14 – 19, SHE TELLS THE STORY ABOUT JOSEPH FOUR TIMES, THE NARRATOR’S ACCOUNT, TO HER SERVANTS, TO HER HUSBAND (VV. 13, 14-15, 17-18, 19).
Vv.13-15: IS A SOBERING REMINDER OF WHAT DAMAGE THE LYING TONGUE CAN BRING. POTIPHAR’S WIFE SPEAKS TO HER SERVANTS, HOPING TO CAPITALIZE ON JOSEPH’S “HEBREW” DESCENT. SHE AVOIDS REFERRING TO HIM BY NAME SO AS NOT TO PERSONALIZE HIM WITH HER SERVANTS. SHE WANTS TO CAPTIALIZE ON THEIR ANGER AND EGYPTIAN ANTI-SEMITISM.
SHE USES THE PHRASE “TO MAKE SPORT OF US” TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE US-VS-THHEM MENTALITY, TRYING TO SET THE WHOLE HOUSE AGAINST JOSEPH.
THE TESTIMONY OF THE MASTER’S WIFE, AN, EGYPTIAN, AGAINST A HEBREW, AND THE EXHIBITED CLOAK SEALED JOSEPH’S APPARENT GUILT.
Vv. 16-18: SHE USED THE SAME DECEPTIVE TACT WHEN TALKING WITH HER HUSBAND. SHE TOLD THE SAME STORY AS BEFORE, BUT IN ADDITION ADDED GUILT ONTO POTIPHAR FOR THE CRIME AS IT WAS HE WHO ELEVATED THE HEBREW SLAVE. THEREFORE HE HAD BETTER DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
v. 19: THE USE OF THE TERM “HIS MASTER” SPEAKS TO THE RELATIONSHIP THAT POTIPHAR HAD WITH JOSEPH. IT WAS A RELATIONSHIP THAT POTIPHAR’S WIFE WAS NOW SAYING THAT JOSEPH WAS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF BY ATTACKING HER AND OVER-STEPPING HIS BOUNDARIES.
IT IS AT THIS POINT THAT POTIPHAR BECOMES ENFAGED. HE IS NOT ENRAGED AT THE ATTACK ON HIS WIFE, BUT AT THE BETRAYAL OF TRUST IN THE MASTER – SERVANT RELATIONSHIP.
HERE WE NOTE SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT TEMPTATION. IN THE MIDST OF TEMPTATION, WHEN THINGS ARE DELIBERATELY SET AGAINST US, WE CAN ALWAYS SEE THE HAND OF GOD. SINCE HE BURNED WITH ANGER AND JOSEPH WAS HIS SERVANT, IT WAS WELL WITHIN POTIPHAR’S POWER TO HAVE HIM KILLED, YET HE DID NOT DEMAND IT. THE HIDDEN HAND OF GOD PRESERVES JOSEPH’S LIFE ONCE AGAIN.
RATHER THAN HAVE JOSEPH EXECUTED POTIPHAR HAD HIM IMPRISONED. PERHAPS HE CHOOSE TO BELIEVE JOSEPH’S DEFENSE OVER HIS WIFE’S CLAIMS. THIS MOST LIKELY WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED.
GENESIS 39:19: WHEN HIS MASTER HEARD THE STORY HIS WIFE TOLD HIM, SAYING, “THIS IS HOW YOUR SLAVE TREATED ME,” HE BURNED WITH ANGER.
THERE IS NO INDICATION GIVEN AS TO WHOM POTIPHAR IS ANGRY WITH. IS HE ANGRY AT JOSEPH FOR ATTACKING HIS WIFE, OR IS HE ANGRY AT HER FOR LYING AND CHEATING ON HIM.
JOSEPH WAS WELL-LIKED BY THE PEOPLE IN POTIPHAR’S HOUSE, AND A TESTIMONY THROUGH HIS LIFE TO GOD.
IT COULD NOT GO UNOBSERVED HOW DELIBERATE AND THOUGHT OUT THIS ATTACK WAS. POTIPHAR’S WIFE PROBABLY ARRANGED FOR THE OTHER SERVANTS TO BE OUT ON THAT DAY, BUT MADE SURE THEY WERE CLOSE ENOUGH TO HEAR HER WHEN SHE SCREAMED. THIS WAS ON AN EGYPTIAN FEAST DAY AND SHE CLAIMED TO BE SICK IN ORDER TO STAY AT HOME AND SEDUCE JOSEPH.
PERHAPS POTIPHAR’S WIFE INTERVENED ON JOSEPH’S BEHALF TO LEAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF COMPLIANCE DURING HIS STAY IN PRISON.
ULTIMATELY WHATEVER CIRCUMSTANCE WAS USED WAS UNDER THE DIRESCTION OF GOD IN HIS DELIVERANCE OF THE YOUNG HEBREWS FROM DEATH.
CONCLUSION:
WHEN HE WAS AT HOME IN HEBRON, JOSEPH’S BROTHERS CONSIDERED HIM TO BE A TROUBLE-MAKER, BUT IN EGYPT, HE WAS A SOURCE OF BLESSING BECAUSE GOD WAS WITH HIM AND HE WAS WHERE GOD WANTED HIM TO BE.
ALL HE HAD TO DO TO HAVE A BETTER LIFE WAS GO TO BED WITH POTIPHAR’S WIFE. WHAT IS ALSO TRUE IS THAT ONCE SIN IS ENTERED INTO IT NEVER STOPS AT ONE. DAVID IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT. POTIPHAR’S WIFE HAD NO MORALS AND COULD EASILY HAVE TOLD THE STORY ABOUT JOSEPH NO MATTER WHAT HE DID.
GOD PROMISED ABRAHAM THAT HIS DESCENDANTS WOULD BRING BLESSING TO OTHER NATIONS.
GENESIS 12:1-3:
THE LORD HAD SAID TO ABRAM, “GO FROM YOUR COUNTRY, YOUR PEOPLE AND YOUR FATHER’S HOUSEHOLD TO THE LAND I WILL SHOW YOU. 2 “I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION, AND I WILL BLESS YOU; I WILL MAKE YOUR NAME GREAT, AND YOU WILL BE A BLESSING. I 3 I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU, AND WHOEVER CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE; AND ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH WILL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOU.”
GOD DID NOT PROMISE THE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH THAT PROMISE WOULD BE FULFILLED. IF YOU ASK GOD TO GRANT YOU MORE PATIENCE IN DEALING WITH PEOPLE, HE MAY VERY WELL PUT YOU IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE YOU NEED TO EXERCISE MORE PATIENCE. IF YOU WANT TO LEARN TO BE MORE DEPENDANT ON HIM, BE PREPARED TO BE PUT IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE YOUR ONLY ANSWER IS TO BE DEPENDANT ON CHRIST.
JOSEPH IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A BELIEVER WHO TRUSTED GOD AND MADE THE BEST OF HIS DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES. HE NEVER READ WHAT JESREMIAH WROTE TO THE EXILES IN BABYLON
JEREMIAH 29:7: ALSO, SEEK THE PEACE AND PROSPERITY OF THE CITY TO WHICH I HAVE CARRIED YOU INTO EXILE. PRAY TO THE LORD FOR IT, BECAUSE IF IT PROSPERS, YOU TOO WILL PROSPER.”
OR WHAT PETER WROTE TO THE SCATTERED CHRISTIANS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE:
1 PETER 2:13-22:
13 SUBMIT YOURSELVES FOR THE LORD’S SAKE TO EVERY HUMAN AUTHORITY: WHETHER TO THE EMPEROR, AS THE SUPREME AUTHORITY, 14 OR TO GOVERNORS, WHO ARE SENT BY HIM TO PUNISH THOSE WHO DO WRONG AND TO COMMEND THOSE WHO DO RIGHT. 15 FOR IT IS GOD’S WILL THAT BY DOING GOOD YOU SHOULD SILENCE THE IGNORANT TALK OF FOOLISH PEOPLE. 16 LIVE AS FREE PEOPLE, BUT DO NOT USE YOUR FREEDOM AS A COVER-UP FOR EVIL; LIVE AS GOD’S SLAVES. 17 SHOW PROPER RESPECT TO EVERYONE, LOVE THE FAMILY OF BELIEVERS, FEAR GOD, HONOR THE EMPEROR. 18 SLAVES, IN REVERENT FEAR OF GOD SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO YOUR MASTERS, NOT ONLY TO THOSE WHO ARE GOOD AND CONSIDERATE, BUT ALSO TO THOSE WHO ARE HARSH. 19 FOR IT IS COMMENDABLE IF SOMEONE BEARS UP UNDER THE PAIN OF UNJUST SUFFERING BECAUSE THEY ARE CONSCIOUS OF GOD. 20 BUT HOW IS IT TO YOUR CREDIT IF YOU RECEIVE A BEATING FOR DOING WRONG AND ENDURE IT? BUT IF YOU SUFFER FOR DOING GOOD AND YOU ENDURE IT, THIS IS COMMENDABLE BEFORE GOD. 21 TO THIS YOU WERE CALLED, BECAUSE CHRIST SUFFERED FOR YOU, LEAVING YOU AN EXAMPLE, THAT YOU SHOULD FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS.
TEMPTATION CAN BE AS STRONG IN TIMES OF EASE AND POWER AS IT IS IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY AND STRESS. THERE IS NO GOOD TIME FOR TEMPTATION. IT WILL COME WHEN WE ARE RESTED OR WHEN WE ARE PHYSICALLY TIRED.
WE MAY BE PUNISHED FOR DOING WHAT IS RIGHT. JOSEPH WAS THROWN INTO PRISON AND WAS IN SHACKLES.
PSALM 105:18: THEY BRUISED HIS FEET WITH SHACKLES, HIS NECK WAS PUT IN IRONS,
WHAT DOES THIS LESSON TEACH US:
1. THAT GOD’S BLESSINGS ARE WITH HIS PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, EVEN WHILE UNDER THE SEVEREST OF TRIALS.
2. THAT GOD’S BLESSINGS AND GRACE IN HIS PEOPLE ARE MANIFEST TO OTHERS.
3. THAT GOD BLESSES OTHERS FOR THE SAKE OF HIS PEOPLE
4. GOD IS STILL WORKING OUT HIS DESIGNS, EVEN WHEN THEY SEEM TO FAIL.
5. PROSPERITY IS NOT ALWAYS A SIGN OF GOD’S SPECIAL FAVOR.
