Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 39 and 40)

Joseph does not know it yet, but he has arrived in the place where God is going to fulfil his original promises to him. We know the whole story, so we can see that is the case. Egypt is the place where Joseph will yet flourish, as Jacob is yet to describe him, having seen what happened to him in Egypt. Yet he is going to face further trials before he will be exalted.

 

Joseph, the son who became a slave

Joseph, as we know, is the heir of Jacob. Perhaps, Jacob had replaced Joseph now that he believed Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. I assume if he had he would have given the role to Benjamin, the other son of Rachel, but who can say? For Joseph, it must have been incredulous that he had become a slave. Yet what should he do in his new circumstances? The answer is to become the best slave possible. And that is what Joseph did and he eventually found himself running the household of Potiphar. We could say that although he did not seem to be the number one son, he had become the number one slave.

 

Joseph lived in such a manner that his master Potiphar recognised that his new slave was very different from all others. Whatever he did prospered. How does one become a person like that? We get an answer to that question in Psalm 1:3, which describes the blessed man who lives differently from others: ‘He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.’ 

 

Psalm 1 is about a person who delights in the law of the Lord. The law there is not the ten commandments alone, but whatever God has revealed. When a psalmist wrote that psalm, the ten commandments would have been part of the law of the Lord. But at that time, the person delighting in the law of the Lord would not have been able to delight in the prophetic writings or in the New Testament. He had to use the divine revelation that he had. 

 

It is the same if we work back the way from the author of Psalm 1 to the time of Joseph. Joseph may not have had any written material because not even the book of Genesis had been composed back then. So what did Joseph have to meditate on? He had what God had revealed so far, and when we think about it, that was quite a lot. What did he know?

 

First, he would have known that God makes covenants with sinners and does not break what he has promised. Joseph would have known about the covenant God made with Adam, with Noah, with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He would have known that when Adam broke his covenant he was judged by the God who had promised that would happen. He would have known about the judgement that God sent on the world at the time of Noah. He would have known about the covenant promise made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob about one of their descendants being a blessing to the world. He would even have had the sign of the covenant in his body. So Joseph did have quite a lot to think about, and how thinking about those matters would have led him to prosper.

 

Second, he would have known that God had kept his promises despite the apparent impossibility of the situation. He would have known that God used an ark to deliver Noah and his family. He would have known that God had kept his promise to Abraham about Sarah having a son when all natural hope was gone. He would have known about the promises God had given to his father Jacob about possessing the land, and that somehow in it he would have the double portion connected to him being the heir of Jacob.

 

Imagine the difference thinking about them would have made to Joseph. We can picture him taking some time to reflect on those truths. He could say to himself, ‘I am the only person in the land of Egypt who knows the plan of God for the world. In my family is the line of deliverance. I know what God said to my ancestors and I know what he said to me in my dreams. My ancestors tell me that God always keeps his word and does so sometimes in impossible situations. Here I am, the son who has become a slave. But God is still there, and I can see that he is making my way prosperous.’ 

 

God has a way of doing that, even when things seem to be going in the opposite direction. As we look at the son who became a slave, we should ask ourselves, ‘Is he on the way up or is he on the way down?’ Is he closer to God’s promise being fulfilled or is he further away from God’s promise being fulfilled? We know the answer.

 

The slave who was tempted to sin

We now come to think about the temptation that came to Joseph from the wife of Potiphar. What can we say about it? First, it was private – no one would know about it. Second, it was persistent – she continued day after day. How did Joseph deal with this temptation? 

 

First, he knew it would be an expression of ingratitude towards his master. So far, in his career as a slave, Joseph had honoured his master and in turn his master had honoured him. We may think that was an unusual way for Joseph to deal with a temptation. Yet, is it not the case that the way we behave everyday will indicate whether we are likely to fall when the big temptation comes? We could say that Potiphar could trust Joseph with his wife because he could trust him anywhere to do what is right. If a person is dishonest with his employer, is he not liable to be dishonest somewhere else as well? Dishonesty anywhere can lead to dishonesty anywhere. Consistency of character is essential for resisting temptation.

 

Second, he knew how God would regard such an action if he fell into temptation. ‘How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?’ Joseph had never read the seventh commandment in the way that we have, but he did possess what Paul says in Romans, that the law of God is written on our hearts. Joseph also realised what our catechism says, when it states that some sins are more heinous in the sight of God than other sins. Circumstances can make a sin greater, and circumstances can make a great sin greater. Here is an indication that Joseph feared God. The willingness to break any of God’s commandments is a sign that we do not fear him.

 

What would happen to Joseph because of his determination to fear God? One day, the only choice he had was succumb or run. So he ran, but in doing so she grabbed his garment with such a grip that it was torn of him. We know that she had to make up a story to explain why she had his garment, and the outcome was that Joseph was put in prison. Again we should ask: is Joseph on the way up or on the way down? We know the answer.

 

There are important lessons from Joseph’s experience here. They are obvious. We should always do what is right wherever we are. We should resist temptation immediately and constantly, no matter who is causing it. Sometimes, the cost of resisting can be heavy, but at least Joseph’s conscience was not carrying a burden.

 

The God who goes to prison

Not surprisingly, Potiphar punishes Joseph. Surprisingly, he does not punish him severely because he could have had Joseph executed. The most surprising statement is verse 21: ‘But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.’ Joseph had a God who went down with him to the depths. 

 

How do we know that God was with Joseph in the prison? Once again, Joseph is number one, except now he is number one prisoner. He has been the number one son, he has been the number one slave, and now he is the number one prisoner, in charge of the situation.  

Prison wardens look out for what prisoners are liable to do, but the keeper of this prison discovered that he had a prisoner he could trust. Yet it was not easy for Joseph because we know from Psalm 105:18 that ‘his feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron.’ It was hard enough when his brothers laughed at his special coat; it was hard for him that his slave garment was used against him. But now he had to wear fetters and an iron collar. Still, he could be trusted by the ones who put them on him. Fetters and an iron collar were not a barrier to the Lord’s blessing on his life. 

 

A second evidence that God was with him was that he retained the special gift that the Lord had given him. There is no evidence that anyone in Potiphar’s house gave an opportunity for Joseph to use his gift, but God gave him the opportunity in the prison. It just so happened, or we could say, in divine providence the Lord arranged that the keeper would put Joseph in charge of two really important prisoners, two members of Pharaoh’s cabinet, we might call them. It is unusual that the keeper should have put them in Joseph’s care since the reason he was there was for offending Potiphar, another official close to Pharaoh. Unusual maybe, but not surprising when God is at work with his plan.

 

Joseph interpreted their dreams and his interpretations came true. We can see that Joseph had retained his confidence in God when he told the two important prisoners that God could enable him to say what they meant. Do we not find that remarkable? His adverse circumstances did not cause him to doubt that the Lord could use him as he had previously. Once he knew what the dreams meant, he passed on the message, even although it was only good for the cupbearer and very bad for the chief baker.

 

Yet, even here, Joseph was to be disappointed. The man he had helped by telling him his dream, despite being asked by Joseph to remember him to Pharaoh, forgot all about him. Ingratitude perhaps, or maybe there was a divine action that caused the forgetfulness. After all, if Joseph had been released earlier, he would not be in the place where he could be used to solve Pharaoh’s dreams. God is in control even of bad memory use. But we are to ask, is Joseph on the way down or on the way up? 

 

Applications

There are some applications that we can make to ourselves from this experience of Joseph. First, we are to look for signs that God is in control when adverse providences come our way. The Lord provided them for Joseph. Did he notice that he kept ending up in charge wherever he went? One day he would be in charge of the entire country, but here he was getting little signs from God.

 

Second, as we observed, the path of prosperity is meditation on the law of the Lord and practising his commandments. Joseph may have seemed to have lost out when those adversities occurred, but we know that he did not. The fear of God should govern all our actions, indeed our thoughts. That is the safe pathway.

 

Third, incidents in life are all links in God’s chain. Yet we should remember that each one is only a link in his chain. Until we get to the last one, we have not reached the final one. Wherever we are, there is at least one more link. Maybe your whole life has been a preparation for the final link. Or maybe at this moment, God is thinking of what you will be like in two links time. Only he knows, and he calls us to trust in him. Often, that is the story of life, observing what God does with the links in his chain of our lives.

 

Fourth, sometimes God uses his servants to give opposite messages. Joseph was used in this way when he gave a good message to the cupbearer and a sad message to the chief baker. Opposite messages are also given in the gospel. To those who believe in Jesus, the message is good because they will be pardoned and assured of their home in heaven. To those who do not believe in Jesus, the message is bad because they will be condemned by God.