The story of Joseph in the Bible is a lesson in resilience, courage, tenacity and forbearance in the face of adversity.
Joseph was born into a family plagued by sibling rivalry and envy. His mother, Rachael, was the preferred choice of his father, Jacob, but he was tricked into marrying her less attractive sister, Leah by his father-in-law. On top of that, Rachael was barren for a long time and suffered greatly from taunts from her own sister about her inability to have a child. Eventually, God remembered Rachael, and she had a son named Joseph. Little wonder then, that the love of Jacob for Joseph, became a source of envy and jealousy among his own brothers, as Jacob favored him over and above his older brothers. In addition, Joseph gave Joseph a beautiful coat of many colors. In their culture, the first-born son is usually accorded this honor, but Reuben, the first-born son was by-passed, and the honor was given to Joseph, even though he was the 11th child out of 12 sons.
Joseph was also a dreamer, as God showed him his future as a leader in the family. He has two dreams, where he saw his brothers and even his own father and mother bowing down to worship him. He shared these dreams with his brothers and parents, further making him the target of more hatred by his brothers. Also, anytime Joseph was sent by his father to check on the welfare of his older brothers as they took care of their father’s animals in the fields, he sometimes came back with negative reports about them to their father. Joseph was therefore seen by his brothers as a “Dreamer, a Favored Son and Blabbermouth “
No wonder that his brothers hated him so much!
With so much going on in the family, it's no surprise that when the opportunity presented itself to the brothers of Joseph, they decided to do away with him once and for all.
One day, his father sent him to check on his brother's welfare and when they saw him from afar, they conspired to kill him. In Genesis 37:17-19:
“So, Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams. "NIV
You can imagine the shock that Joseph got when his own bothers grabbed him, removed his beautiful coat and threw his into a cold and waterless pit! That was certainly not the reception he had hoped to receive from his own brothers.
In Genesis 37:23-27:
“So, when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed”. NIV
So, Joseph was sold by his own brothers for 20 shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. There, he was bought as a slave by a man named Potiphar. Meanwhile, his brothers killed a goat, dipped Joseph’s beautiful coat in its blood and presented it to their father, Jacob. They told him that they had found the coat on the way, making it look like a wild animal had killed Joseph. Jacob was devastated, as he believed that his most beloved son had been killed by a wild animal.
Thus, we see the deception in the linage of Jacob, who had also tricked his own father, Issac and stole the birthright of his brother, Esau. This pattern of family deception started in Genesis 20:2-13 when the family Patriarch, Abraham, lied to King Abimelech that Sarah, his wife, was his sister. This was to prevent him being killed and his wife Sarah taken by King Abimelech. This family pattern repeated itself again in Genesis 26:8-11 when Issac, Abraham’s son lied to King Abimelech that Rebekah was his sister and not his wife.
Back to the story of Joseph, he was sold as a slave to the house of Potiphar, who was a captain of guard to Pharaoh. Here we see the hand of God at work in the life of Joseph. God was working quietly behind the scenes, shaping the life and destiny of Joseph, guiding him along the right path that will lead him eventually to the palace. When his brothers sold him into slavery, they probably thought that he will die in slavery, unknown and unsung. However, as the saying goes:
“Man proposes but God disposes”.
When Joseph got into the household of Potiphar, God was with him, and his work ethic was so impeccable that Potiphar handed over everything in his household to Joseph.
In Genesis 39:1-6:
“Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar was an officer to the king of Egypt and the captain of the palace guard. He bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. He lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.
3 Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that the Lord made Joseph successful in everything he did. 4 So Potiphar was very happy with Joseph and allowed him to be his personal servant. He put Joseph in charge of the house, trusting him with everything he owned. 5 When Joseph was put in charge of the house and everything Potiphar owned, the Lord blessed the people in Potiphar’s house because of Joseph. And the Lord blessed everything that belonged to Potiphar, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left Joseph in charge of everything he owned and was not concerned about anything except the food he ate.” NIV
Well, life became rosy for Joseph again. He was removed as a youth from the comfort of his house and the love of his father, but he soon found favor with his new boss. In Potiphar’s house, Joseph was very hard working and honest. His work ethic attracted the attention of his master who placed him in charge of his entire household. He was made the head of the servants in Potiphar's household, making him the administrative head. Joseph began to exhibit great administrative skills and talents he never knew he had before. He became a great administrator as he managed the running of Potiphar's household with excellence.
Even though his brothers took away the beautiful coat that his father gave him, they were unable to remove the cloak of virtue and prudence that God had blessed Joseph with. He was morally upright and refused to yield to temptation.
Unknown to Joseph, life was getting ready to throw him another curve ball. God knew that Potiphar's house was not the final bus stop in his life. Soon, Mrs. Potiphar began to notice how tall, handsome and muscular Joseph was. In Genesis 39:6b-20:
“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.”
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.”
Joseph literally went from the frying pan to fire!
It was bad enough that a free born son was sold as a slave by his own brothers and he was helpless to do anything about it. When he decided to make the best of the circumstances where he found himself, he was faced with another problem. His own master’s wife wanted to commit a sin with Joseph.
Thank God for the fear of God, the moral uprightness and the good upbringing that Joseph had imbibed as a young man, when he said “No” to Mrs. Potiphar. His arguments and logic were impeccable.
Firstly, to do so was a breach of trust. Potiphar had entrusted all that he had into Joseph’s care. The only thing that was off- limits was his wife and she wanted Joseph to commit immorality with him. He was concerned that if his master found out, it would have been a great betrayal of the trust he had in Joseph.
Secondly, Joseph feared God. He was probably deeply religious and connected to God Almighty, even though he lived in an Egyptian household. He was probably praying to God regularly, which explained the favor and blessings he enjoyed in Potiphar’s house. God had blessed Potiphar, an Egyptian, because Joseph lived in his house.
Thirdly, Joseph refused to be with her. This meant that he avoided being alone with her in the house, to avoid temptation. He made sure that he was never in close proximity with her or was only there when others are present. Joseph was obeying the advice given in 1 Corinthians 6:18 which says:
“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” NKJV
One day, when Mrs. Potiphar had made sure that none of the others in the house were around, she forcefully jumped, on Joseph to force him to commit immorality with her. Joseph was left with no other option than to flee from his master’s wife. In the course of doing this, he left his garment behind, as he was more concerned about his body and reputation than his garment. This was the second time that Joseph’s garment became a source of distress to him. His brothers had removed his beautiful coat and now his mistress was about to use his garment against him.
When Mrs. Potiphar saw that she couldn't force Joseph to lie with her, she began to plot his downfall. She first reported him to the other servants in the house, who may have secretly hated Joseph because he was bought into the household and promoted over them. Then she waited for her husband to return home and told him that Joseph had attempted to rape her.
When Potiphar heard this, he was furious. However, the Bible never recorded that Potiphar asked Joseph for his own side of his story. Instead, he used his power and authority, and without any due diligence and total disregard for the Rule of Law, got Joseph imprisoned.
This is the Spirit of Potiphar.
It is the Spirit of Injustice. It is the spirit that hears one side of a story but fails to give the other side the opportunity to be heard. It is the Spirit that makes a mockery of the judicial system, where the foreigner is denied justice.
The laws of natural justice are based on two principles:
Hear the other side or party in a dispute.
No man shall be the judge in his own cause.
Here we see that Potiphar did not listen to Joseph’s side of the matter. Potiphar was also the Judge in a matter involving his wife, as he unilaterally threw Joseph into prison.
When Potiphar threw Joseph in prison, he thought that was the end of the matter. However, unknown to him, he was actually an “Unwilling Destiny Helper”. He unknowingly helped Joseph on his way to fulfilling his destiny, even though this was done in a painful manner.
If Joseph had committed immorality with Mrs. Potiphar, he would have remained in that household. He would never have had the opportunity to meet Pharaoh's Butler and the Baker, who were in prison at that time for offenses they committed against Pharaoh. Joseph successfully interpreted their dreams when he met them in prison.
When Pharaoh had a puzzling dream, it was the Butler that remembered how Joseph had helped him and recommended that the King ask Joseph to interpret his dreams.
After Joseph successfully interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, he was made the Prime Minister in Egypt. Thus, a teenager, sold into slavery by his own brothers, became second only to Pharaoh in a foreign land.
Joseph’s dreams, which his brothers despised, and thought can never happen, eventually came true. His brothers bowed down to him, and even his father and mother paid homage to him.
Like Joseph told his brothers later in Genesis 50:30:
“As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for he brought me to this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people.” TLB
As for Potiphar and his wife they were lower in rank to Joseph in the land of Egypt.
God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform!
Invitation to Salvation.
Jesus is calling you today. He is saying to you:
“Come to me all who are tired from carrying your heavy loads and I will give you rest”. Mathew 11:28
If you want to accept this invitation, pray to God. You can say something like this:
“Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I confess my sins before you today. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I want to know you personally.I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in and be my Lord and personal Savior.Take control of my life.Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life.Make me the kind of person that you want me to be. In Jesus name I have prayed. Amen.”
If you have sincerely put your trust in Jesus to be your Savior, welcome to the household of God!
