Summary: Joseph was stuck as a slave, then a prisoner in Egypt. He could have claimed God had forgotten him, but Joseph remained faithful and a man of character on the inside and outside. It gives us many lessons on how to live our lives in Christ.

The story of Joseph reminds me of someone else later on in the Old Testament - Daniel. Like Joseph, Daniel was carried off to a foreign land but because of his God given talent and integrity, he was given broad trust and responsibility. Also like Joseph, that character got him enemies who sought to accuse him. Those accusations brought trouble to both Daniel and Joseph, but the Lord prevailed and their positions after were even greater than they enjoyed before.

This week we see Joseph - a young man of perhaps 17 years - afraid for his life as his brutal brothers almost kill him, threw him into a cistern instead, then sell him as a slave to distant kin - the Ishmaelites. All he could see was difficulty and despair. Think about it - his brothers rejected him, he was taken away from his mom and dad and brother Benjamin - taken away from his home and didn’t even know if he’d make it wherever they were taking him - and what was it going to be like going from a favored son to a slave.

What must have Joseph thought about God - here God gave him these dreams that his family would serve him and what became of it? You’d be tempted to just give up on God - either you heard wrong or God doesn’t really love you - and after all, nothing of what God said in the dream came true.

How often do we find ourselves in a situation where we trusted God, thought we heard him speak, followed that voice, only to find everything go wrong - people reject us, circumstances go the opposite way - blessing seeming to turn to a curse - what is our reaction? Joseph never stopped believing or trusting God - and that is one of the chief lessons of the entire Joseph narrative - he didn’t let circumstances dictate his faith and trust in God - he took a long view, and was blessed because of it.

Verse 1

Potiphar means ’devoted to the sun’. The Egyptians worshipped the sun god On. He would have lived in the Nile delta region bordering Canaan. He was an officer - which meant he was in government service. But it also says he was "captain of the guard." Possibly he was the chief executioner - which makes the fact that Joseph wasn’t killed later on even more amazing.

Verses 2 - 6

So even in a tough place - a place some might say he was being punished for arrogance - the LORD was with him prospering him. 5 times in this one paragraph the word LORD appears. That’s actually the Hebrew word Yahweh. God personally saw to it that Joseph did well - so well that Potiphar turned over all the administration of his house to Joseph. Literally "except the food he ate" probably refers to the preparation of food in religious observance to his gods - something her would not entrust to a foreigner.

What place has God put you in? Do the people around you know that you serve the LORD and that He is the reason for you being blessed? Once Potiphar realized that the LORD was with Joseph his whole household was blessed. You as a Christian will positively affect those around you. Don’t be afraid to be who you are as a Christian and let others know why you are who you are.

Titus 2:9-10 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

This is what Joseph did - and Potiphar realized that there really was something to this "Yahweh" thing.

But the enemy had other things in mind - trying to frustrate God’s plan and the care for the family of the Messiah.

Verse 6b & 7

Literally the Hebrew says "fair of form and fair of face" and is the same term used of Rachael in chapter 29. For a man I guess we say he was a "hunk"

We never learn the name of Potiphar’s wife - in fact, that’s how we refer to her. Obviously lust leads her here - and as the mistress of the house she was probably used to getting her way. It’s not going to be that way this time. You know - no matter how much power you have, righteousness is always more powerful - she can accuse Joseph, and change his outward circumstances, but she cannot force him to be different on the inside.

Verses 8 - 10

Servants were expected to avoid eye contact with the master’s wife - she, however, put her eyes on Joseph. One translation says "she became infatuated with him." In her position she could order her servants to do anything.

Joseph replied to her: 1. I have a trusted relationship that I respect. 2. You are out of bounds and I won’t blur the line. 3. To do this would have far reaching consequences not only to my relationship with others, but my relationship with God. 4. This thing you want me to do is wicked - he called a spade a spade. We don’t need to call down fire and brimstone against people, but we should also recognize and acknowledge sin when something goes against the clearly revealed will of God.

From the NIV "would not even be with her" there is the suggestion that he did his best to avoid contact with her.

Romans 13:14 says "make no provision for the flesh." Perhaps that’s what Joseph was doing.

Verses 11 - 12

I wonder if Potiphar’s wife purposefully sent the servants away. The enemy will sometimes go to great lengths to get us to sin.

So Joseph’s reply and his actions probably would not have been something she was used to. By Potiphar’s reaction (not killing him) I am going to take a guess that this may not be the first time she has done this and that he also had a great deal of respect for Joseph.

Joseph was likely wearing a short skirt that tied at the waist - and nothing more - no shirt or anything. It would have been easy for Potiphar’s wife to grab the skirt and tear it off as Joseph pulled away.

Now if you are in that situation you might say "I did my best but I can only do so much - God will understand - I’m being forced here!"

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

We too need to pray for those ways to escape - even if it means we get into "trouble."

Verses 16 - 18

"If I can’t have you then nobody will" may have been her thinking. How easy it is for lust to turn to loathing. We see it with Amnon who fell in love with his half sister Tamar - both children of King David. After Amnon forced Tamar to have sex with him it says

2 Samuel 13:15 Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her.

So she decides then and there to cry "rape." Notice that there are no witnesses to corroborate her screams.

A way of translating this part may be "look here" or "see what this is" - meaning she was holding up Joseph’s cloak. This isn’t the first time someone held up Joseph’s clothing to create a false impression. Don’t be surprised if the enemy uses things about you to accuse you before others falsely.

The enemy can take love you show for others and accuse you of being soft. He can take peace-making and try to turn it around to trouble-making (this has happened to me). Just be who you are in Jesus - and if someone makes trouble then that’s okay - you know who you are and you know whom you have believed (2 Timothy 1).

Verses 19 - 20

The word "prison" means "round house." Some have described it as an inverted bowl covering what was mostly an underground dungeon. Some have also suggested that it was actually an extension of the grounds that Potiphar had. You might think of it as a county jail - where people would go before standing trial.

It’s also described as the "place where the king’s prisoners were confined" so the suggestion is that this is where higher class prisoners were kept - that’s why we find the chief baker and cup bearer there.

Now - Joseph gets off easy, really. The punishment under Egyptian law for attempted adultery was 1,000 blows. And rape upon a free woman was punished even more severely. We also know, however, that sexual purity among women whether slave or free in Cairo was pretty rare - never the less, Potiphar apparently doesn’t fully believe his wife but must do something.

Leave it to Joseph, however, to make lemonade out of lemons - even in prison.

Verses 21 - 23

Same story, second verse - did perhaps Joseph’s reputation precede him to prison? Most likely - especially since the warden worked for Potiphar. You will be amazed at how your reputation as a Christian among unbelievers will spread. Just living your life in integrity for the Lord will be a witness.

Now in the next chapter we have the beginning of the famous dream sequence - leading up to Joseph interpreting the dream of Pharaoh.

Chapter 40

Verses 1 - 4

These two guys had "offended" Pharaoh. What exactly they did we don’t know - however, in the next chapter we get the idea that there may have been a plot to assassinate Pharaoh and one of these two guys was guilty - Pharaoh just didn’t know which one.

Whatever the case - here these two guys come and Joseph is told to wait on them. Joseph wasn’t over them - the word used is "to place someone alongside." God sometimes calls us to what we might think are menial tasks that are "below" us. But He actually puts us in places to do His will - no job is too menial for us to do God’s work.

Verses 5 - 8

So both of these guys had nightmares. Or at least they had troubling dreams they knew had some significance - but couldn’t figure out what. Joseph saw their dejected faces and asked them about it - and they were troubled because there was no one to interpret the dreams.

Notice what Joseph says: "Don’t all interpretations belong to God?" I don’t want to make too much out of this - but I notice a change in Joseph here. Before when Joseph had a dream he couldn’t wait to share it - and it’s obvious interpretation. We see nothing in the text to indicate that Joseph asked God for an interpretation before sharing the dream. Now his outlook is different.

Verses 9 - 15

The chief butler - or cupbearer dreams that he is doing his job - that’s pretty clear - what isn’t clear is the meaning of the three branches. You know sometimes how in your dreams you know something is of importance - but don’t know why.

Notice that Joseph slips in there a request that Pharaoh free him from kidnapping.

So Joseph tells him that he’s going to be found innocent in three days. That gives the chief baker the gumption to ask for his dream to be interpreted.

Verses 16 - 19

I wonder if the baker only shared his dream because he thought he was going to also get a favorable interpretation - is it possible that he was really guilty and thought that Joseph was some sort of diviner that might help him get away with it?

He also has the three things in his dream - three baskets - this was common in Egypt for men to carry things on their heads - women on their shoulders. But notice that the baker is unlike the cup bearer, only carrying something - he is not baking, nor giving them to Pharaoh - significantly different, I think.

And, sure enough - Joseph tells him that in three days he is going to be executed. I guess that’s the chance you take when you ask God for the truth.

Verses 20 - 23

So sure enough - it happened just as Joseph said. You wonder from the fact that the chief cupbearer forgot about Joseph if perhaps these guys didn’t really pay attention to the interpretation that much.

But again, it was God’s timing that he forget - for relating the story of Joseph now would have been merely amusing to Pharaoh - it won’t be meaningful until he also has a dream that it becomes more significant.

Conclusions

Be God’s man or woman on the inside - no matter what someone tries to make you do on the outside - even if that means undergoing persecution of some sort - it will be worth it in the long run,.

Work for God’s favor, not mans - but know that by doing a good job for the Lord you will find favor in the eyes of those you work for.

Even if things go sour in the world - don’t blame God, but let Him guide you - who knows what you will do on that path.

Be faithful, even in prison. Joseph could have easily concluded that God had abandoned him - but he acknowledged God even in the depths of the dungeon - and he continued to share his faith.

Finally, don’t lose heart if your prayers aren’t answered right away. God’s timing isn’t our timing - don’t consider no answer to be "no" only "not now."