A long time passed while we studied many of the adult years of Judah's life. We don't know how many years went by in Chapter 38 but it was long enough for Judah to move away from home, marry and raise three sons, become widowed, and father a set of twins by Tamar. During all those years his brother Joseph has been a slave in Egypt. Today the author lets us in on what has been happening in Joseph's life. We are going back in time to find out what occurred during the first decade or so of Joseph's life as a slave.
"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 and had taken him there. The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant." (Genesis 39:1-4a) It looks like Joseph has landed a pretty cushy job even though he's not a free man. Potiphar sees that there's something special about Joseph. He can tell that Joseph has the blessing of the Lord upon his life. We are reminded of how the Lord caused Jacob to profit while he was living in Harran managing his father-in-law's estate. His father-in-law realized it was an advantage to him to have Jacob around. In Jacob's case, the Lord's blessing had more to do with the covenant He made with Abraham than with Jacob's personal godliness at the time. But in Joseph's case I think the Lord's blessing is due to Joseph's faithfulness to Him. After all, Joseph is not the son of Jacob who will inherit the covenant God made with Abraham, but the Lord is looking after him and sustaining him and causing everything he does to be successful.
Potiphar most likely worships the pantheon of Egyptian gods. Still, I think he believes in the existence of the God whom Joseph worships. Potiphar has sen that when Joseph prays to the Lord for help and guidance, the Lord directs his life. Potiphar has had time to observe the way the Lord attends to Joseph's prayers and he has had time to observe the godly living of Joseph. He knows he can safely leave the management of his estate in Joseph's hands without fear of theft or laziness or wastefulness. Joseph will follow his conscience in everything he does. "Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 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 upon everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 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." (Genesis 39:4b-6a)
Joseph is not a free man but he's "blooming where he's planted", as the saying goes. He's living out his faith every day in the household of this Egyptian official. He's setting an example of godly living for Potiphar and for everyone employed (or owned) by Potiphar. There's nothing Joseph can do about the loss of his freedom but he has accepted that at the current time it's the will of the Lord for him to be in these circumstances. Instead of throwing himself a pity party he's actively living for the Lord. He's shining like a light in a dark land, for in Egypt knees are bowed to every god but the Lord.
Things appear to be going quite well for him for a number of years after he arrives in Egypt. He was only seventeen when he was sold into slavery, and the Bible doesn't tell us how long he's been there, but he's become grown up enough to catch the eye of Potiphar's wife. "Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, 'Come to bed with me!'" (Genesis 39:6b-7)
Scholars estimate he's likely been in the household for ten years or more to have risen to such a position of responsibility, and if so then he's at least twenty-seven years old here in Chapter 39. He's old enough to be a husband and father if he were free to make his own decisions about his life. He may be a slave, but he's second in power only to his master, and at his appearance everyone on the property stands at attention. Power can be very attractive. Godliness can also be very attractive. There is a certain type of person who finds it irresistible when someone stands firmly on their principles and loves the Lord and lives for Him. How many women have thrown themselves at church pastors? How many men have tried to seduce godly women? There is something even unbelievers find appealing about those who confidently know who they are in the Lord and who remain firmly committed to Him. Potiphar's wife finds Joseph's confidence and faith very attractive. She also finds him attractive in his personal appearance. He's a strong, tall, muscular, good-looking man in the prime of his life. He's in the house every day and Potiphar's wife is a wealthy woman who enjoys a life of leisure that allows her to stay home as much as she pleases. While she lounges idly about the house, she watches Joseph and has lustful thoughts about him. Eventually she makes him an offer she believes he will be happy to accept.
"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. 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?' And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her." (Genesis 39:8-10) Joseph could have committed adultery with this woman and gotten away with it. He's so powerful in the household that he could demand and enforce the silence of the other slaves. In fact, he could have conducted this affair without anyone suspecting anything at all. He could just order them to work in another part of the house or outside on the grounds while he has an afternoon interlude with the master's wife.
It's important for us to note that the Bible never tells us that he wasn't tempted by her. I believe he was tempted. I believe he felt the pull of this sin. In his reply to her, he doesn't refuse her advances because he's uninterested in them. He doesn't say, "Sorry, but you're not my type." Joseph is an unmarried young man with unmet physical desires. Potiphar's wife was probably young too. Women married quite young in those times and it was common then, as it is now, for wealthy men to marry young and beautiful trophy wives. Potiphar was wealthy and of high political and social standing. His wife very well may have looked like a supermodel. Joseph never says, "I don't think of you in that way, Mrs. Potiphar. You're a very plain looking lady and I don't find you attractive." No, what he says is, "I could never sin against my God by doing this thing and I would never break the trust of your husband." Day after day she makes her whispered advances to him or gives him those "come hither" eyes. The Bible tells us that he refused "to even be with her" so we know he's careful never to be in a room alone with her. If he does feel tempted, as I suspect, then he's setting an awesome example for anyone who feels attraction toward someone who does not belong to them. Being alone with a person like that is setting oneself up for failure.
I'll tell a brief story that illustrates how smart Joseph is to ensure he's never alone with Potiphar's wife. One of my co-workers had a friend who was conducting an affair with a married man. After their first encounter she vowed never to sleep with him again but she didn't keep her vow because she set herself up for failure. She set herself up for failure the next time she heard from him by agreeing to meet him in a hotel room, but she said she prayed all the way there, saying, "Lord, please help me not to have sex with this married man." The battle was already pretty much lost by the time she was on her way to meet him. It would be a lot easier to stay strong if she stayed away from him, but instead she was going to be all alone with him in a hotel room. When she told my co-worker this story, my co-worker told her that it was a little too late to be praying for strength not to continue the affair while on her way to continue the affair. Joseph is smart enough not to set himself up for failure like this. He makes sure someone else is always around when he's in the household of the woman who is trying to seduce him.
Potiphar's wife realizes he's making sure there's always at least one servant around him whenever he's in the house. Before he arrives for work one day, she orders all the servants to do some type of work away from the house. The Bible doesn't specifically say she did this, but I highly suspect it because of what happens next. "One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 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." (Genesis 39:11-12)
I feel like giving Joseph a standing ovation when he flees her presence. Sometimes the only way to avoid sin is to run from it as fast as you can. There's no shame in running away if you have to. He does exactly the right thing. This woman has her hands on him. She's looking up at him with her beautifully made-up eyes and promising all sorts of illicit and mysterious pleasures. She's offering him something that he (a healthy man in the prime of his life) is lacking---a physical relationship with a woman. I think if he hadn't run he might have given in. And we shouldn't think any less of him if that's the case. Sometimes there's a tendency to want to think of Bible heroes as "less human" than the rest of us, but Joseph was an ordinary young man who had the same physical urges as any other ordinary young man. He could have done this thing and no one would have been the wiser. But he would have known. And God would have known. Not wanting to live with a guilty conscience and not wanting to sin against the God who loves him and has been good to him, he does the only thing he can do to remove this temptation. He runs from it.
Have you ever heard the saying, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"? That saying could have been made up about Potiphar's wife. She's not going to take rejection very well at all. I'm willing to bet no man has ever rejected her in her life. She may have seduced other servants in the past and it never occurred to her that Joseph would say no. Her pride is so hurt and her fury is so great that in tomorrow's study that she makes false accusations against him.
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