Genesis 39:7-21

Accused

In our last lesson Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers and carried off to Egypt. He was working and living in the house of  Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

The Lord God was with Joseph so that he prospered and gave him success in everything he did. Because of this Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. With Joseph in charge, the only thing Potiphar had to worry about was what he had plan to eat each day.

This is where we pick up our lesson for today.

Let’s read Genesis 39:7-10

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.

The Bible tells us that Joseph was a well-built and handsome young man.

With his good looks, his success and position of power caught the eye of Potiphar’s wife.

She was not shy about her feeling or afraid to act on them. She straight out said to Joseph…..“Come to bed with me!”

We can’t say for sure if this is the first time Mrs. Potiphar has acted on her lust for another man or not but we can be assured this time she cares on for herself.

Joseph’s reaction to her sexual advances is quick and direct.

Joseph calls her actions wicked and sinful against God. But day after day she came at Joseph came at him with the same demand, to have sex with her.

He reminds her that she is a married women by referencing her husband and that her husband has power and authority over him by calling Potiphar master.

But more importantly, Joseph tells her, such things are a sin against God.

We need to understand that this takes place hundreds of years before God ever gave Moses the seventh commandment: “You shall not commit adultery.”

So how did Joseph know it was a sin against God?

Read Proverbs 2:6-8 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

By his action, of refusing her advances we can see what Potiphar saw in Joseph……integrity. Because of his integrity, Joseph was faithful to God and Potiphar.

We are told to run from such advances in1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

In the next set of verses we will see if Joseph run sexual immorality.

Let’s read Genesis 39:11-16

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.

Again Mrs. Potipher comes after Joseph. But this time they are all alone with no one else in the house.

I read this: Potiphar’s wife knew Joseph avoided her, so she made a deliberate plan to trap him. Surely, it was she who arranged it that none of the men of the house was inside.

Being alone and with her relentless efforts she must have believed that Joseph would give into her demand for sex.

Afterall, being married to the Captain of the guard, she was living in a big house with many servants so this tells us that she was a well kept and more than likely an extremely attractive woman. How could a young man resist her much longer.

In today’s term we would say Mrs. Potipher was a cougar.

But unlike before where she would only talk with Joseph, this time she grabs him and again demands “Come to bed with me!”

I want to let’s look at two separate set of scripture that address just such a situation.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Joseph resisted this youthful temptation; he saw the way that was provided by God so he fled and ran from the house.

I can say for sure this is what happened but I imagine that when Joseph ran out of the house without his cloak other servants  that were outside took notice of it. It would have been out of character for a man of Joseph’s position to be seen running and missing a part of his clothing.

When she realized what had happen and find herself standing there with his cloak she had to come up with a story and quick.

As we mentioned earlier, she is married to the Captain of the guard and a woman of position and stature within the community. It would be unheard of for her to be in contact with the servant of the house. Even though Joseph was in charge of the house, he was still a foreign slave.

So she fabricates the story that Joseph tried to rape her, she screamed and grabbed his cloak as Joseph ran.

After all who wouldn’t believe her. She’s Mrs. Potipher.

Let’s read Genesis 39:17-21

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. 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.

Now when Mr. Potipher comes home she repeats this lie once again, accusing Joseph of attacking her.

Potipher waste no time in believing her story and becomes angry. In fact it says he “burned with anger.”  

But I have to asked who did his anger burn against? Was it Joseph or Mrs. Potipher?

Think about it. Potiphar is Captain of the guard who could have easily had Joseph killed and no one would have questioned it.

The normal punishment for adultery in ancient Egypt was death.

I read this: Potiphar knew what kind of woman his wife was and he knew what kind of man Joseph was. His anger came because he knew that her accusation against Joseph was not true.

So instead of dying Joseph spent time in an Egyptian prison.

While Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

What was the lesson in Joseph and Potiphar's wife?

It’s about the importance of integrity, resisting temptation, and God's faithfulness to take care of us no matter where we are. Even when you are falsely “Accused.”

Hebrews 13:5

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”