Book of Genesis Chapter 39 Commentary by Pastor
Ron Beckham
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 39:1-10
Verse 1. "Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there."
Joseph, beloved son of his father, Jacob who was also known as Israel, had just been threatened, beaten, stripped, betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers. They dragged him out of the pit they hoped he would die in because they saw an opportunity for profit and sold him to some traders who just happened to be passing by. We can say, "happened... by," but we need to understand that it was God who was directing the events of Joseph's life. As Joseph would much later say to his family after they were reunited, "... you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Genesis 50:20). God intends that good will come out of all that happens to us.
We can see in Genesis 37:28 that Joseph was sold by his brothers to a group of Ismaelite traders who were with a Midianite caravan, and the price was "twenty shekels of silver." Factoring inflation into the equation, we are certainly reminded of Judas Iscariot who sold Jesus to his enemies for "thirty pieces of silver" (Matthew 26:15). That was precisely the amount that Zechariah prophesied Jesus would be sold for in Zechariah 11:13. In Egypt, a very sad Joseph was sold once more; this time to "Potiphar," a man who protected and advanced Joseph, but then would place him in prison because he thought the young Hebrew man had committed a crime against his family.
Verses 2-4. "The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge."
"The Lord was with Joseph," just as He is with all of those who have placed their trust in the Lord, no matter what the outward circumstances of our lives. The Lord through Solomon said, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). We may not have precisely the same life as Joseph would live, but God is with us all when we trust in the Lord - He is directing us and where it counts, we are SAFE for all eternity.
In Joseph's case, the Lord protected him upon his arrival in Egypt by advancing him in his master Potiphar's household. The man saw that the Lord was with Joseph and Potiphar had the good sense to promote him. Joseph's master was a person of high authority in Egypt and for Joseph to become his personal servant was an honor done to this Hebrew slave. Joseph now oversaw all of Potiphar's holdings, including all of his many other slaves and all of the man's possessions. Joseph never forgot the betrayal of his brothers but the Lord has a way of restoring "the years that the swarming locust has eaten" (Joel 2:25).
Verses 5-6. "It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance."
Potiphar made a good decision when he began to promote Joseph within his household. The man must have had some understanding, some belief in the Lord, because he was able to recognize that the Lord was with Joseph (Verse 3). All of us are blessed in some manner or another, but it's all too few that credit God with the blessings that He has given. Potiphar did exactly that, and God blessed this man on account of his servant Joseph. Potiphar, a man high in the Egyptian government, had to make many decisions in his work, but now because of Joseph, all he had to do when he arrived home was decide what he wanted to eat for dinner.
The young Hebrew man was now appointed as the "overseer" of Potiphar's extensive estate. Joseph was in charge of everything and everyone, except for Potiphar himself and Potiphar's wife. Joseph was now beginning to relax somewhat. Yes he was a slave in a foreign country, but he was learning to speak the language and like Potiphar, he saw that the Lord was blessing him. But Verse 6 mentions one item that most people actually would not view as a problem - he "was handsome in form and appearance," a factor which for him was about to change everything.
Verse 7. "It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, 'Lie with me.”
For a long time I was somewhat troubled by the Book of Proverbs because it did not seem fair to me. The book contains many warnings to young men to watch out for women who would seduce them, such as Proverbs 7, which presents the "enticing speech" of women, issued through "flattering lips" (Verse 21). The problem is that all my life I had seen that women are stalked and pursued by men; not the other way around. And then I read about a factor in Israel's history that changed my thinking.
The people of Israel remained in slavery to Egypt for over four hundred years. They were not only badly used by the Egyptians but they also became imbued with Egyptian culture. As a survival mechanism, they started acting like the Egyptians, and in Egypt it wasn't the men who were the sexual agressors, it was the women who pursued the men. You can catch a glimpse of that culture here in Genesis 39 when Joseph, son of Jacob, was pursued by his master's wife, who continually said to him, "Lie with me." We need to be willing to see Scripture in its historical context which will help us to understand.
Verses 8-10. "But he refused and said to his master’s wife, 'Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?' As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her."
Joseph tried hard to be a good man. Here he was, being pursued by someone who likely was an attractive woman because Potiphar was rich enough to have almost anyone he wanted, and here was Joseph, refusing her advances. In his replies to her, we can see his heart. All too often, young men away from home will cross the line that Joseph was refusing to cross for he recognized that such an act would be a sin against God. "No one will ever know," many think. But Joseph not only knew and loved the Lord, recognizing that he had not been forsaken by Him, but he also respected this man Potiphar who had given him so much. As he told the wife, "he has put all that he owns in my charge."
This was Joseph's opportunity to be ungrateful, but he was not. This was his chance to be angry with God because his brothers had sold him into slavery, but he was not. As he said, "There is no one greater in this house than I," and he was truly humble, knowing that it was God who had done all this for him. He refused this woman, not because she was unattractive, but because they were not married and she was the wife of another man. Potiphar's wife began pursuing Joseph relentlessly every day, and each time he did not give in to her arguments and he did not surrender to her demands. What would you do in a similar situation?
Father, we have tended to see this life merely from an outward perspective, not recognizing Your Presence in all things. We are Your creation, dear God, but we have sinned against You, in thought, word and deed. We repent, Lord, placing our trust in You. We would rather please You than have what this world offers. Thank You for enabling us to do Your will instead of merely our own. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 39:11-23
Verses 11-14. "Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. She caught him by his garment, saying, 'Lie with me!' And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called to the men of her household and said to them, 'See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.'"
Potiphar's wife, a female sexual predator who had been pursuing Joseph, son of Jacob, for a considerable time, now had her chance. We learned in Verse 6 that Joseph was very "handsome" and as a result, this wife was obsessed with the idea of committing adultery with him. They were essentially alone at this moment, for "none of the men of the household was there inside." She grabbed his outer garment and breathed at him, "Lie with me." In response, Joseph, who did not want to sin against God, did the only thing he could think of - he simply ran out of the house away from her.
His outer garment was still clutched in her hand, but he was not, and she was angry. Potiphar's wife now loudly called to the men who were outside the house and accused Joseph of attempting to rape her. She shook his garment at them, calling him a "Hebrew" who would "make sport of (Egyptians)" and her claim was that he ran away because she "screamed" in defense of herself. None of the men would have said anything in defense of Joseph because she was the wife of the master and they didn't want trouble to come on them.
Verses 15-17. "'When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.' So she left his garment beside her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with these words, 'The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.'”
Potiphar's wife had continued to keep yelling at the men who were outside of the house. She was defending her claim that Joseph had attempted to rape her, and that when she allegedly screamed, he ran outside of the house, leaving his outer garment with her. Later in the day, her husband, Potiphar returned to the house and she told the same story to him, saying that Joseph attempted to take her, she screamed, and he left his garment inside as he ran outside of the house.
It's difficult to tell what is the truth and what are lies in this deceptive world. The leader of one nation is envious of his neighbor, another country, and invades that nation on some pretext or another. Lives are lost, property is destroyed, grief is everywhere and such events are often caused by lies. It's the same with two children in a schoolyard. One of them envies the other, tells lies about them and decides to hate that other child or even do harm to them. Such behavior must stop with us. When we think badly of another person, we must take our anger to God, asking for HIS help, His intervention. Only He can deal with situations that are beyond our control.
Verse 19. "Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, 'This is what your slave did to me,' his anger burned."
Potiphar, the "master" of the slave Joseph, burned with anger at what he thought Joseph had attempted to do to his wife. He was actually embarrassed that Joseph's apparent action had become known to his household servants. Word would spread about what had happened and this man with a previously good reputation might become a laughingstock to others. It was the time for Potiphar to pray, to ask more questions and then pray some more, but he did none of that. Instead he "burned" with anger.
That scenario has been repeated in millions of similar situations throughout history. But we can read ahead in this historical narrative and discover that God would have a hand in all of this and bring good out of the evil intended by Potiphar's wife. That should give us a clue that God is also involved in OUR own troublesome, impossible situations. Joseph is about to enter an even worse circumstance, but his losses would become the good that the Lord intended for the man's life, just as God intends good for your life and mine.
Verses 20-21. "So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer."
Isn't the expressed and revealed will of God interesting? If you and I were in charge of things we probably would have had Joseph march down to Egypt, announce that God had good intentions for his life and he was now in charge of all things. The Egyptians, in our way of doing it, would have received him with open arms and they all would place their faith in the Lord and lived happily ever after. But we should carefully note how God handled the life of Joseph. He did not do it as we would and we are to see that when WE are in jail, or lose something like a job or a marriage, that God is not demoting us, but instead may well be promoting us and our lives to something better.
So now Joseph's angry master, Potiphar, took Joseph, who was in chains once more, and had him thrown into jail. This was not just any jail; it was the federal prison where the Pharaoh's political prisoners were kept. It was the worst of the worst and Joseph was in chains once more. Isn't it interesting for us to view God's methods of handling our lives. God is outside of space and time as we know it and His ways are infinitely higher than ours. The Lord now reached through the bars of Joseph's confinement, having the "chief jailer" extend the kindness of God to this man who had become low once more.
Verses 22-23. "The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper."
Humanly speaking, these verses are incredible, but we must note that our God is truly the God of miracles. At the time Jesus Christ, God the Son, gave sight to the blind and healed lepers, there were no surgeons or medical procedures that could help such people at all. What He did was astonishing and it could have happened in no other way, except that God did it. Joseph was in the darkest prison that Egypt could offer, imprisoned by a jailer who had seen it all and was unlikely to help or trust Joseph or anybody else for that matter.
But just like it had been with Potiphar, it now was with this jailer. Joseph was simply and literally placed in charge of the prison. Look at the words of these verses: He "committed to Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in the jail." Joseph became the leader of all of them. The chief jailer no longer supervised everything; Joseph did "because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper." Commit your life to the Lord, no matter what your present circumstances are. Utterly place your faith in Him and you will find that God is blessing your life in subtle ways that you never expected. Joseph's experiences were not precisely like yours and mine will be, but He has good intentions for us all. TRUST in the Lord.
Father, we did not understand that when things went wrong, You meant and still mean it for our good. Forgive us, dear God, for not trusting You more. We place our faith in You now. In Jesus Name. Amen.
