The Practical Redemption Of Man

The Life Of Joseph, Session #3- The Redemption Of A Man’s Integrity & Giftings

Intro.

- Joseph has been sold as a slave into the house of a very important man. He is described in the beginning of Genesis 39.

• Genesis 39:1 : “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.”

- This man is an officer of the Pharoah himself. He is a military Captain of Pharoah’s security personnel and last, he is an Egyptian.

- Joseph is in his house, serving as a slave, but is soon moved up to the rank of a supervisor.

• Genesis 39:3-6a : “And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate.”

- Just notice a few things immediately. First, his master saw that the Lord was with Him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper.

- His heathen, Gentile, Egyptian master observed this and promoted him.

- Then notice that the Lord blessed the Egyptian/Heathen’s house because of Joseph’s presence. What powerful verses, especially for those of us employed in the heart of the world. We’ll come back to that in a moment.

- Joseph was so responsible to His Lord and to his earthly master, that all was left in his hand. He did not need to account for things because he was over and above all possible questions of integrity.

- Things could barely be better and this is where we all must be careful, when things are going so well because Joseph was a success, a man of integrity and authority and he was a good looking man with a stud’s body, which is the original Hebrew for verse 6b.

• Genesis 39:7 : “And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’”

- Potiphar’s wife was likely not the big Bertha type, with a large mole on her forehead and a thick mustache! She was a good looking, alluring, available and forward woman.

- She cast no doubts on her intentions from day one and was not one to be told “no.”

• Genesis 39:10 : “So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.”

- In the end, we know that Potiphar’s wife set Joseph up for the fall by false accusation.

• Genesis 39:19,20 : “So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, ‘Your servant did to me after this manner,’ that his anger was aroused. Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.”

- The sentence was definitely a light one considering the circumstances. It shows us that Potiphar made a token concession to save his and more importantly his wife’s face.

- The end of this chapter ends almost as it began, with Joseph in charge, but at a prison instead of a penthouse!

- What lessons are we to gain from this? I suggest that we have a deep lesson on the integrity of a man and how we can be grounded in the same way as Joseph.

- Let me further suggest these lessons. Integrity happens when…

I. Our Work Is Respected Appropriately

II. Our Actions Are Viewed In Light Of The Word

III. Our Relationship With The Lord Is Priority

Text

I. Our Work Is Respected Appropriately

- Let’s look at Joseph’s response to Potiphar’s wife.

• Genesis 39:8,9 : “But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’”

- Notice Joseph understands how much responsibility he has been given.

- He had earned complete trust (…my master does not know what is with me in the house).

- He has complete autonomy (…he has committed all that he has to my hand).

- He has total authority (…no one greater in this house).

- But he still has boundaries and he respects them!

- It has taken time and trust, through repeated success for Joseph to rise through the ranks.

- Joseph understood something fundamental about life: The hardest thing to gain is the easiest thing to lose and that is a good reputation.

- He understood the level of loyalty that is appropriate to our employers and did not want to lose that respect.

• Ephesians 6:5-8 : “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”

- Do you respect what God the employment that God has placed you in today?

- Let our integrity begin there.

II. Our Actions Are Viewed In Light Of The Word

- Notice secondly that Joseph does not mince words with Potiphar’s wife.

- She might have called it a “fling” or a “friends with benefits” relationship.

- Joseph however called it “this great wickedness.”

- What was he referring to, seeing that the law of God would not come down to men until Moses?

- The heathen codes of Hammurabi spelled out death for anyone who was caught in the act of adultery.

- But it was not the consequences Joseph was worried about! He calls this, emphatically a “wickedness.”

- Even without an explicit command, Joseph knew from his own history that God blessed and inaugurated the marital union. How could he participate in violating it!?

- In this world, it’s easy to call sin by other names, and thus soften the impact.

- Joseph aligns himself with the spirit of the Word.

- When we side with God’s Word, we will always live in righteousness, for God’s Word is righteousness expressed.

- Righteousness toward God and toward each other.

III. Our Relationship With The Lord Is Priority

- Finally, notice what Joseph says at the end of this statement to Potiphar’s wife.

- “How can I do this great wickedness and SIN AGAINST GOD!” (Emphasis mine)

- Ultimately, what was being suggested was not just a moral failure or the possible cause for demotion, but it was a sin against the Lord.

- Notice that it was not a sin against man, though it was.

- Notice that it was not a sin against Potiphar’s wife, though it was.

- To Joseph though, first and foremost, this action was a sin against God.

- It was an offense, a break, a fracture in the relationship that would be caused by this flagrant trespass.

- It would break the intimacy and the blessing that Joseph had been enjoying.

- David spoke about this when he was confronted by Nathan about his sin with Bath-Sheba, a secret union that turned out to be not so secret.

• I Samuel 12:13,14 : “So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.’”

• Psalm 51:1-4 : “Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight--That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.”

- Our sin is against the Lord. It offends Him. It breaks fellowship with Him and puts us in a place that we don’t want to be

Conclusion

- As we end this study, I acknowledge that Joseph is a better man than most of us. He succeeded where most of us have failed.

- If we have failed, we have a great High Priest who is sympathetic to our weakness and ready, willing to forgive and cleanse us, when we are ready to confess, say the same thing about our sin that He does.

- He is faithful when we are faithless and His grace hyper-extends over our sin.

- To those who have not failed and our integrity is intact, take note of a few final lessons from this chapter.

- First, Hold On Tight To What God Has Entrusted You With. Work with joy, love and enjoy your wife and cling closely to Jesus Christ daily.

- Second, Flee Temptations, Physically If Necessary! Joseph was a real man, confronted with a real situation, that held a real temptation over him. He ran! He did not trust in His strength.

- Finally, Sometimes The Way Up Is Through The Way Down. God’s plan for Joseph did not make sense and here we see a demotion of sorts. There is textual evidence that we will examine next week that will point to the prison being Potiphar controlled, but this is still a confusion.
- Little does Joseph know that this prison will be a place where he will be put into a position to be brought before the Pharoah himself.

- You might not be where you feel you should be, but understand that God has you right where he wants you.

- We do right and the wrong thing happens, but when we honor the Lord, even the wrong thing is the right thing in the right time.

- Wherever you are, the penthouse or the prison, live your life with the integrity that comes from respecting your employment, honoring God’s Word and keeping your relationship with Christ a priority.