Goodness Punished. Genesis 39, Day 40, Feb 9th, Read Through the Bible Project | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Genesis 39

¹ 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 who had taken him there.

² The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

When the Lord is with us, when we are acting according to his direction, we will prosper. Either in our career–wealth, success etc.– or spiritually, in spiritual peace, happiness and fullness, and, not rarely, both spiritually and in our work and materially.

³ When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, ⁴ Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant.

When God is with you–success in everything you do is a frequent result. Though not always–as we shall see as we follow Joseph’s story.
Though Joseph’s situation had altered dramatically, God’s relationship to him had remained the same.

Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. ⁵ 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 on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

God’s blessing on Joseph extends to those Joseph works for. Laban, similarly, was blessed because of Jacob. The offspring of Abraham continue to be a blessing to the nations.
ESV notes–By indicating the divine blessing comes through Joseph, the narrator picks up an important element of the promises made to the patriarchs, Gen 12:3

⁶ 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.
Joseph had full responsibility for the welfare of Potiphar’s house, as later he would have full responsibility in prison, and later still in all Egypt. Always, this Israelite came to hold the welfare of his “world” in his hands–but always by the blessing and overruling of God, never by his own wits as his father Jacob had so long attempted.

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.

Lust will not be his downfall as it was for his relatives. He writes a new story with his life.

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.

Hell has no fury like a woman scorned!! Joseph acts with complete integrity and rectitude and is lied about and framed. But, be of good cheer, when you suffer in the same way. This is not the end of the story of Joseph.

ESV–Implicit in this account is the idea that God’s presence with Joseph is linked to Joseph’s commitment to God.
As before, Joseph’s garment is used to deceive others.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, ²¹ the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

God was with Joseph, and turned the most unpromising situations around–magically, miraculously, or God-likely.

²² So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. ²³ The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

I think this is amazing. And have experienced it myself. One can be incredibly unfairly treated, “thrown into prison” metaphorically, and still the Lord can be with you, and give you success in whatever you do.
ESV By echoing the language of vv 2-5, these verses imply that Joseph’s experience in prison paralleled his earlier experience in Potiphar’s house. Again, because of the Lord’s presence with him, Joseph prospers.