The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying God's providence or divine providence in the lives of David and Joseph and how we can apply His providence in their lives to our lives today.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe. He is in control of the physical world. He is in control of the affairs of nations. He is in control of human destiny. He is in control of human successes and failures. He protects His people.
Last week we looked at Joseph's family and its dysfunction which resulted in his being sold into slavery at the age of 17 to start his providential journey. In this session we see how God was with Joseph even in slavery to the point that everything that he touched was blessed so much so that slave owner was blessed because God was with Joseph. We see that Joseph was able to resist the temptation offered by his master's wife. After resisting the temptation, which was the right thing to do Joseph was thrown in prison.
Here's what we learned about resisting temptation.
1. Don't be weakened by your situation. When things are going good you are very vulnerable to temptation, so be careful.
2. You must not be deceived by the persuasion.The temptation will be very persuasive. Nobody will know, you deserve this, you have always come out on the short end, God will forgive you, etc.
3. You must not be gentle with your emotions. Your inner feelings will plead for satisfaction. Temptation will work on them, begging for understanding.
4. You must not be confused with the immediate results. The immediate result of resisting temptation may not be pleasant, it may, in fact, be very unpleasant. You may lose your job. You may lose your lover. You may lose acceptance by the group.You may be ridiculed. You may be bumped out of the club. You may be the only one who's not “doing it.” Get out! You owe it to your character and to your family. Most of all, you owe it to your God. Claim the supernatural strength that comes from knowing Jesus Christ and, operating under the control of His power, stand strong in His might.
For our study we are using Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, and Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness by Charles R. Swindoll. To study along with us you can purchase the books by clicking the Links here or the images after the notes.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole, He is in control of the physical world, He is in control of the affairs of nations, He’s in control of human destiny, He’s in control of human successes and failures, He protects His people. Through divine providence God accomplishes His will.
Last week we looked at Joseph’s dysfunctional family and how we get to the point in time that at 17 years old his brothers, who hated him and had actually planned to kill him, but because of God’s providence they sold him as a slave to some Midianites who were passing by, who took him to Egypt. His brothers conspired to fool their and Joseph’s father into thinking that he was dead and that they were rid of this favorite son who told them that one day they would bow to him.
What we learned from that introduction to Joseph, that we can apply today is that
No enemy is more subtle than passivity.
Where there is no discipline disaster is usually the result.
No response is crueler than jealousy.
Solomon was right when he said, “Jealousy is cruel as the grave” (Song of Solomon 8:6, rsv). Jealousy, if allowed to grow and fester, leads to devastating consequences.
Song of Solomon 8:6 AMP Put me like a seal on your heart, Like a seal on your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe and cruel as Sheol (the place of the dead). Its flashes are flashes of fire, [A most vehement flame] the very flame of the Lord!
No action is more powerful than prayer.
We have now scriptural evidence that anybody prayed during the times we talked about today but the fact that Joseph was able to go on with his life as we will see is evidence that he had some kind of relationship with God. We do know that he knew God because with all his faults Jacob did know God because God often says in scripture that He is the the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God would have been his only source of hope. Prayer brings power to endure.
Today we start the next segment of Joseph’s life now in Egypt. Over the next few weeks we will be looking at his life for the age of 17 until he is about 30. During that period of his life Joseph will experience slavery, unfair accusation and imprisonment.
While being a slave of Potiphar who was a high ranking Egyptian officer Joseph faced and resisted serious temptation and that’s what we are going to look at today.
Just a quick look back at how he go here,
Jacob whose name is now Israel send Joseph to check on his brothers who are out with the flocks. They see him coming and say now is our chance to get rid of him let’s kill him. Ruben, the oldest convinces them not to kill him but to throw him into a well of cistern. He plans to come later and rescue him. Another brother Judah convinces them to not kill him but to sell him to some passing Midianite traders so they sold him for twenty shekels of silver which is what would have been paid for a physically handicapped slave. So the sold him, killed a goat dipped the pretty coat his father had given him in the goat’s blood took it back to his father and said, I’m sorry dad but it looks like your son is dead.
Genesis 37:36 NIV Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
Genesis 39:1 NIV 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.
Last week we said there is no scriptural evidence up to this point that Joseph prayed or had a relationship with God. We will find out now that he did know and trust God and that God had everything under control. That is something that we need to remember. No matter what happens to us God is still in control and has everything under control. What is one of our favorite scriptures?
Romans 8:28-30 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Ok, Potipher was a powerful man in Egypt. Potiphar was nobody to fool around with; he was a man of seasoned military experience with power over life and death. Yet Joseph not only adjusted to his new situation but flourished in it—and for one major reason.
That reason emerges in a beautiful phrase that appears a number of times in Joseph’s story: “And the LORD was with Joseph.” The sovereign God of Israel was intimately involved in Joseph’s life. He guided him. He gave him favor in the eyes of Potiphar. God was the secret of Joseph’s success. Potiphar could see it for himself.
Genesis 39:2-6 NIV The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 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. 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. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,
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The last part of verse 6 later became an issue and because he was a young handsome guy it created an opportunity for temptation to try to attract Joseph. Now Joseph must have been super handsome because the words used to describe Joseph are used to describe only four people in the Old Testement. They are Saul teh first king of Isreal, David, the second king, and David’s son Absalom who rebelled against David.
Not only the things that Potiphar owned, but all of the benefits that he accrued finally wound up under the watchful eye and guiding hand of Joseph. Joseph went from a common slave one among probably many slaves being the head slave. It just kept getting better for Potiphar because of Joseph,
Now because Potiphar knew that his house was being blessed because of Joseph he made this slave the person in charge of everything. the Lord blessed Potiphar’s house and all that he owned.
We talked about this when we studied David. The more successful you are, the more vulnerable you are to temptation. The temptations that accompany prosperity are far greater (and far more subtle) than those that accompany adversity.
So we have a slave who has impressed his owner so much that he has been placed in charge of everything. He is on top of that very handsome and well built. Potpher’s wife who I can imagine is a rich older woman who Potpher may not be paying as much attention to now sees this handsome young man and wants to sleep with him.
Genesis 39:6-7 NIV 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. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”
Now Chuck the author thinks this came out of the blue but I don’t think so because it says after a while his master’s wife took notice and said “Come to bed with me!”
I agree with what Chuck wrote and that was Most others then and now would have been caught off guard and at least momentarily felt flattered by such a seductive statement.
But not Joseph. Scripture indicates that he refused without a second thought.
Genesis 39:8-9 NIV 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. 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?”
There are two reasons that Joseph was able to immediately refuse and resist the temptation.
First, his loyalty to his master, and the second reason was his loyalty to God.
Genesis 39:8-9 NIV 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. 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?”
James 4:7 NIV Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The scripture says resist and he will flee and he will but it didn’t say he will flee immediately. And Potiphor’s wife didn’t stop she would not take no for an answer,
Genesis 39:10 NIV And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
Here is something from our book that I like and says something a lot better than I can say it;
This was no ordinary temptation. Joseph was not a stone, a mummy, but a red-blooded young man in his late twenties. It was not one temptation on one day, but a repeated temptation. . . . An old story tells how when Joseph began to talk about God to the temptress, she flung her skirt over the bust of the god that stood in the chamber and said, “Now, God will not see.” But Joseph answered, “My God sees!”
Now that she’s been rejected Potphor wife doesn’t except it and it becomes an obsession with her to get Joseph to sleep with her. She is now obsessed with lust which if not checked can cause serious problems.
James 1:13-15 NIV When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
That’s where Potiphor’s wife is now and Joseph has to keep resisting. She keeps on so Joseph has to do what we sometimes need to do in order to resist so that the enemy will leave us alone and that is to flee or get out of the situation completely.
Genesis 39:11-12 NIV One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 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.
Now she is really mad and has now become vindictive and wants to get even with Joseph for rejecting her. Now remember Joseph has done the right thing however he ends up on with a huge problem.
Genesis 39:16-21 NIV She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 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, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
So Joseph does the right thing and he ends up in jail.He was not only innocent, he had resisted blatant temptation over and over again. All the man knew at this painful moment was that he had done what was right and had suffered wrong for it. But remember what it says in verse 21
Genesis 39:21 NIV the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
Somehow, in the midst of this unfair situation, Joseph sensed that Jehovah’s handwas in all this. “Joseph, you’re Mine. Just wait. I’m with you. I’m not ignoring you or rejecting you. You will be a better man, Joseph, because of this accusation against you. I’m not through preparing you for My service.”
Genesis 39:21-23 NIV the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 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. 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.
If you plan to resist temptation, you must meet four requirements.
1. You must not be weakened by your situation
Joseph had it made. He was very successful and God waa with him and blessing everything he did which meant he was vulnerable and weakened.
2. You must not be deceived by the persuasion.
The temptation will be very persuasive. Nobody will know, you deserve this, you have always come out on the short end, God will forgive you, etc.
3. You must not be gentle with your emotions.
Your inner feelings will plead for satisfaction. Temptation will work on them, begging for understanding.
You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without +forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivityof mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn’t reserve a plot for weeds.”7
4. You must not be confused with the immediate results.
You may lose your job. You may lose your lover. You may lose acceptance by the group.You may be ridiculed. You may be bumped out of the club. You may be the only one who's not “doing it.” Get out! You owe it to your character and to your family. Most of all, you owe it to your God. Claim the supernatural strength that comes from knowing Jesus Christ and, operating under the control ofHis power, stand strong in His might.
Otherwise, you will yield. It’s only a matter of time.
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