We are continuing our From Dust to Life series in Genesis.
Today, we turn to Genesis 39, where we learn to live a life of integrity even when the world isn’t watching.
We live in an age of instant gratification—a world where desires can be fulfilled with a click, and moral boundaries are blurred by culture, media, social pressure and even our own deceptive hearts.
Temptation is everywhere:
? the lure of materialism,
? the pull of sexual immorality,
? the hunger for power, recognition, or comfort—often at the cost of integrity.
Technology bombards our minds with images and ideologies that dull our conscience and distort truth.
In such an environment, resisting temptation demands intentional dependence on God’s Word, God’s wisdom, and God’s strength.
But what happens when you are wrongfully accused?
When you do what is right—and still suffer for it?
Temptation then shifts forms: it becomes the temptation to stop walking in integrity, to vindicate yourself, to take matters into your own hands and give up on God’s faithfulness.
I recently read the testimony of a man wrongfully imprisoned for 38 years for a crime he did not commit. When the innocence of this man was finally proven through DNA evidence, he said:
“As God is my witness, it is said the truth shall make you free... I am not angry, I am not bitter. I am simply anxious to return to my loved ones and make the most of what is left of the existence I am granted in this world.”
What grace in the face of injustice.
That man’s story echoes Joseph’s in Genesis 39. If you have your Bible, let’s turn there:
Genesis 39:1-23
1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. 2 And the LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all that he did prosper in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and put him in charge of all that he owned. 5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; so the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. 6 So he left Joseph in charge of everything that he owned; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And it came about after these events that his master’s wife had her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Sleep with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put me in charge of all that he owns. 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?” 10 Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. 11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the household was there inside. 12 So she grabbed him by his garment, saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. 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 fun of us; he came in to me to sleep 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.” 16 So she left his garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she spoke to him with these words: “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make fun of me; 18 but when 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. 20 So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the prison. 21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. 22 And the warden of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. 23 The warden of the prison did not supervise anything under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and, the LORD made whatever he did prosper.
Joseph’s life shows us that integrity matters most when no one is watching. Because God was with him, Joseph was (SL 3):
1. Promoted by God
2. Protected by Conviction
3. Prospered in God’s Presence
Let’s look at how Joseph was (SL 4):
1. Promoted by God (vv. 1–6)
Joseph was sold into slavery—alone, vulnerable, stripped from his family, and uncertain of his future.
Yet, verse 2 says:
“The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man.”
God’s presence was not a future hope; it was Joseph’s present reality. Because God was with him, Joseph succeeded in all he did.
Even Potiphar recognized the Lord’s hand and promoted him to oversee his entire household.
But with promotion came new pressure.
Verse 6 says Joseph was young, well built, and handsome. He was really handsome and in a position of authority and Potiphar’s wife noticed—and desired him. She was used to getting what she wanted. To her, Joseph was only property—a slave meant to obey every command. She commanded him, “Sleep with me.”
As a slave, he should have complied but he refused her initiation. Refuse here is not a passive avoidance; it conveys a strong, intentional rejection of what was morally wrong. It was a deliberate choice not accidental or coerced. It was clear and he didn’t have to think about it. Why? Because Joseph had biblical convictions and he was (SL 5):
2. Protected by Conviction (vv. 7–18)
He would not betray his master’s trust, he would not take what belongs to another (Potiphar’s wife), but (SLOWLY)...
Joseph’s greatest deterrent to falling into the sexual temptation was his awareness of God’s personal presence. “How could I, knowing what is right, deliberately do this great wickedness and sin against God and think God will bless me?” He called it what it was - not some little fling, not an affair but a great wicked act against God. Joseph had convictions about his values and would not let her immoral values bulldoze over his. It was his awareness of God’s presence, his fear of the Lord that guarded his heart and mind. Proverbs 14:27 tells us,
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.
Joseph lived his life before God knowing that God sees all of a person’s ways and sees the sins that no one else knows about. He was protected by the conviction that God was watching and his conviction of this truth was the strongest deterrent from falling into temptation. Joseph feared the Lord and had a deep trust in Him.
But Potiphar’s wife could care less about Joseph’s convictions and was relentless. Verse 10 says that she approached him “day after day.”
Temptation is persistent—it wears us down, not with one loud shout but with daily whispers.
Joseph could have rationalized compromise:
? No one would know.
? Immorality was common in Egyptian culture.
? His compliance might even get him promoted.
But Joseph refused to listen - he didn’t linger and he wouldn’t be alone with her. There was no debating, no flirting, no compromise. His convictions protected him against what Proverbs 7 describes as the cost of adultery: emotional and relational wounds, loss of respect, public disgrace (v. 33); It kept him from the path to self-destruction” (v. 32) which is likened to the death penalty.
Then came the ultimate test (vv. 11–12):
One day, the house was empty. She grabbed him by his garment and said again, “Sleep with me!”
He tore himself away—leaving his garment behind—and fled.
Sometimes, the most spiritual thing you can do is run, run from sexual sins (1 Cor 6:18), to run from temptations that capture young people and instead go after righteousness (2 Tim 2:22).
For Joseph, it was better to lose his coat than his character. Better to lose his position than his purity.
Many times Integrity comes at a cost.
She falsely accused him of the very sin he refused to commit.
When Potiphar returned, she twisted the story, blaming Joseph—and even Potiphar—for what happened.
Verse 19 says, “Potiphar’s anger burned.” But the text doesn’t say against whom. Many scholars believe he didn’t fully believe his wife, otherwise Joseph would have been executed.
Instead, Potiphar placed him in Pharaoh’s prison. But even while in prison Joseph was:
3. Prospered in God’s Presence (vv. 19–23)
From the Pit, to Potiphar's house, to Pharaoh's prison. These were all tests of character for Joseph. God had promised him in a dream that He would lift him up, but in reality Joseph was only on a seemingly downward spiral. Stripped from his family, stripped of his robe, thrown into the pit, sold as a slave, falsely accused and suffering for doing the right thing. He went from the highest level to the lowest place of humiliation. This was a rugged road to receiving the promise.
Would he remain faithful to God? Would he continue to walk in integrity even in prison? We know he did. Though sold to Potiphar, Joseph ultimately belonged to God. Joseph was not just committed to God but he came to the place where his life was fully surrendered to Him, he believed God had a plan for his life. Joseph was imprisoned but it was Potiphar's wife who was actually the slave. Enslaved to her own lusts which kept her in chains but Joseph chose to trust God, which was true freedom. Joseph was victorious over temptation on many fronts - over the temptation to live enslaved to his desires, over the temptation to live in bitterness and unforgiveness, over the temptation to be vindictive and vengeful. He was living what Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans.
But now since you have been set free from sin and have become [willing] slaves to God, you have your benefit, resulting in sanctification [being made holy and set apart for God’s purpose], and the outcome [of this] is eternal life (Rom 6:22).
Genesis 39 ends as it began - Even in prison “the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison.”
We all face our own“Egypt”environments filled with compromise, temptation, and pressure. But the same God who was with Joseph in the pit, the palace, and the prison is with us today.
What are the takeaways from this passage?
God’s presence is the constant that carries believers through seasons of injustice, temptation, and uncertainty.
Integrity matters - Prov 11:3 the integrity of the upright will guide them - God honoring integrity may cost you in the short term but it's worth it. How you live in private and in public is the same.
True Freedom Comes when our lives are Surrendered to God, Potiphar’s wife was a slave to her desires, but Joseph was a free man in his heart—even in prison.
God uses those hidden seasons,when no one is watching, to prepare you for His Purpose. God often refines His people in private before He raises them in public. Joseph was faithful in little and God blessed him with much. Promotion comes from the Lord.
Let’s pray.
