Alright, Genesis chapter 39. We've said that the latter part of the book of Genesis is really justifying God's decision to move the family of Jacob to the nation of Egypt. Why does the Lord do this when so much evil seems to result from it? I mean, they are enslaved there. Pharaoh begins to destroy the Israelite baby boys. And did God make a mistake? No, He did not. What we see in the latter third of the book of Genesis is that Jacob's family is being integrated into the Canaanite culture. The latter part of Genesis, it could be referred to as the Canaanization of Jacob's family. And it is necessary for God to bring them out of that culture so that they might be in the world of the Egyptians, but not of the world of the Egyptians, which is how one early Christian writer in about 150 AD described the position of the church of Christians in the present age in the world but not of the world and so God moves Jacob's family to Egypt but he gets them there in the mysterious ways of his providence and this is going to be a major emphasis from chapter 39 until we finish the book at the end of the year God's providence, his sovereign providence, his meticulous providence, his exhaustive providence, because Jacob's family is going to find themselves brought to Egypt through a series of sinful actions and bad decisions. All kinds of evil that men are doing and yet God is working through that evil. and over their evil to accomplish His good purposes. And what we see very clearly in this last 11 or so, 11 or 12 chapters of the book of Genesis is that while God is not the author of evil, He cannot do evil, He cannot be tempted by evil, He never tempts anyone else to do evil, God's sovereignty, His authority over the world is such that He is not only in charge, He is in control. He is in control of all things, even the evil things that men may do in an attempt to thwart His will, in an attempt to defeat His purposes. Even there, God is still in control. And as Joseph will say in the last chapter of this book, what you meant for evil, God meant for good. to save a people alive to this day. And we're going to see that over and over and over, and we're going to see it again in our chapter today. Genesis chapter 39, let's begin by reading the first six verses. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down thither. And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found favor in his sight, and he ministered unto him, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake. And the blessing of Jehovah was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he knew not aught that was with him, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was handsome and well favored." This is the first part of Joseph's experience in Egypt, which you would expect to be the most awful period of his life. I want you to try and imagine this situation. Joseph is 17 years old when he is sold into Egypt as a slave. 17 years old. And he escapes murder at the hands of his brothers by the skin of his teeth. I mean, it is completely the merciful providence of God. I mean, who would ever be excited about being sold into slavery? It sounds a lot better than being butchered by your brothers, right? I mean, this is the lesser of two evil experiences. By the merciful providence of God, Joseph finds himself taken in a slave trade down into Egypt, sold to an Egyptian master. He does not speak the language. How do we know that? We know because 20 years later, when his brothers come to Egypt to buy grain, they have to speak through an interpreter. Jacob's family does not speak the language of Egypt. So when Joseph comes down to Egypt, he does not know the language. He does not know the culture. He does not know the customs. How do we know that? 20 years later, when Joseph's brothers, Jacob's other sons, come down to Egypt to buy grain, they find themselves in a truly foreign environment. They don't even recognize Joseph because of the way that he was dressed, the language that he speaks, the appearance that he has, acting as an official of Pharaoh by that time, even when they are brought in to an official dinner with this prime minister, as it were, with Joseph. They're not allowed to sit at the same table, right? All of this is completely foreign to Jacob's family. Joseph is taken there 17 years old, thrown into that culture, doesn't know what is going on, doesn't know what people are saying, doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing, and he is going to be there in Egypt for 20 years before he ever sees his family again. This would have been culture shock in a major way to be sold into slavery in such a foreign environment and then to have to learn the language the hard way. It's not as though he is sent to school, right? It's not as though he is put into some kind of transition program. He's a slave in Potiphar's house, and he's just a servant doing what servants do, day in and day out. But over time, Joseph, by the grace of God, with his blessing and help, Joseph excels. He proves himself faithful. One of the expressions that you've heard us say many times before, hopefully, is if you will be faithful where you are, God will get you where He wants you to be. You don't have to read the tea leaves of providence. You don't have to peer into the secret counsels of God as if you could do that anyway. You just be faithful where you are. I used to be a Bible teacher and counselor in an inpatient drug and alcohol rehab program for about three years. And I've told you some of these stories before. Men and women who would come in who were still in the process of detoxing, but who were confident that God had something great planned for them. That they were supposed to be really important, really significant, and they were just trying to figure out what great thing God was about to do for them and through them. And my message to them was usually something along this line. The first thing that God has in mind for you is for you to actually repent of this sin of drunkenness and drug abuse. For you to actually get clean and turn to the Lord and trust in Him. And after that, maybe we'll see what God has in mind, right? But that's the first priority. Be faithful where you are. But that's something that most of us don't like to do. We want to see what is the next great thing. What's the next big thing? We don't want to be a servant in someone's house. We don't want to clean up someone else's mess. We don't want to be made inferior to other people. But that's exactly where Joseph finds himself. And yet he is faithful there. And what is the result? God blesses Joseph. He blesses Joseph, and he not only blesses Joseph, he blesses Potiphar. He blesses Potiphar's house. He blesses Potiphar's fields. He blesses everything that this man owns. Why? Because back in Genesis chapter 12, the Lord said to Abraham, Those who bless you I will bless, and those who curse you I will curse. Those who are in proximity to Abraham and his family will experience the benefits of God's covenant of grace made with them. And so look at what is said. Did you notice how often Potiphar is identified as an Egyptian or the Egyptian? It's a strong contrast. That's what the text is making. Here's a contrast between the family of Abraham and the person of Joseph and the Egyptians who, by the time Moses is writing this, Well, who are the Egyptians to the people of Israel in Moses' day? They are the taskmasters. They are the slave owners, just like Potiphar is the taskmaster. He's the slave owner of Joseph. And yet, do you see how God is blessing Joseph? Do you think that perhaps one of the lessons Moses wants the children of Israel to learn as he's writing this history in the wilderness, he wants them to look back and see God's hand of providence? Can you imagine how easy it would be to look back at Egypt with some bitterness, with some resentment, maybe questioning God, becoming angry with God? Lord, why did you allow us to go through these things? I have heard preachers and teachers in the church tell people, it's okay to be angry with God. God can handle your anger. You just vent your spleen. I had someone ask me in a Bible study earlier this week, is it okay to be angry with God? I said, no. No, it's not okay to be angry with God. God is perfect. God doesn't do anything wrong. It's okay for you to express to God your struggles, your questions. We see that in the Psalms again and again and again. Is it okay to be angry with God? No. No, because what does it presuppose? That God has behaved in an unjust way towards you, and that is never true. You may not understand why God has ordained and allowed the things that he has ordained and allowed. Being a slave in Egypt is not a pleasant experience, and yet you need to be able to see with the eyes of faith that God is with you even there, and that God has blessed you, and that God has cared for you. Even though you walk through a valley of suffering, he is still with you. and his presence is a comfort and a blessing. Verse 2, Jehovah was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man, even in the house of his master, the Egyptian. How can you describe a slave as a prosperous man? Well, he's not prosperous in the sense that he's got a lot of money in a bank account. He's not prosperous in the sense that he's driving a nice car or he's got a home of his own or a family of his own. He's a slave, right? But he's a prosperous man. Why? Because Jehovah blesses him. Because Jehovah is taking care of him. And we need to recognize that the Bible describes wealth and blessedness in different spheres, from different aspects. For instance, in Revelation chapter 2, Jesus addresses the church in Smyrna, and he says, I know your poverty, but you are rich. On the other hand, in chapter 3, he addresses the church in Laodicea, and he says essentially the opposite. I know your wealth, but you're poor, miserable, blind, and naked. Now, what is he talking about? Well, in the case of Smyrna, they were physically poor. They were physically in difficult circumstances, but spiritually they were rich. They were blessed by the grace of God with so many good things and a very faithful church. Laodicea, on the other hand, was materially prosperous and yet spiritually impoverished because they were lifted up with pride and covered by materialism and a general lukewarm attitude toward the things of God. So Paul would say to the church in 2 Corinthians 6, you are full, you are wealthy, you have all things in Christ. Maybe not in this world. In this world you may be the slave of an Egyptian, but in Christ, if Jehovah is with you, if Jehovah is blessing you, you need to see how blessed you truly are. One of the things that we pray frequently in our congregation is that the Lord would never allow us to be blinded by our burdens to how blessed we are. That we would be able to see God's hand of blessing even in a time where we carry heavy burdens. Verse 3, Potiphar, his master, saw that Jehovah was with him and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand. One of the points of emphasis during the next few chapters, actually, as Joseph moves on from Potiphar's house into a prison cell, and then eventually to Pharaoh's court, is the ability of the Egyptians to see not Joseph's competence, but the blessing of Joseph's God. Do you realize this? Potiphar is not a man who trusts in Jehovah, who trusts in Yahweh. He doesn't worship the God of Abraham. He worships Ra and the other gods of the Egyptians, the Egyptian pantheon. I'm sure he's a faithful pagan. He's faithful to the gods of his king. But he sees that Joseph's god is truly blessing him because Joseph is in his house. And you may say, well, why in the world would a pagan believe that? Well, one of the features of paganism is to recognize the locality and individuality of the divine pantheon. In other words, a pagan would have no problem with the idea that you have a god that's different than my god. And that your God is sometimes going to bless you, and my God at other times will bless me. Your God may be stronger in the mountains, and my God is stronger in the valleys. Or your God may be the God of the sea, and my God is the God of the field. My God is the God of the harvest, and your God is the God of war. But each deity has kind of their own sphere. What Potiphar is recognizing is that Joseph's God is blessing him since Joseph came in. And one of the things that I think we have lost as a result of the Enlightenment and the rise of modernity and now post-modernity is we have lost the magic and mystery of being aware of the supernatural and the divine. not endorsing at all this pagan worldview where we have different gods managing the affairs of the world in all of these different sectors. But what's remarkable to me is to see even unbelievers and pagans in the Bible who can recognize when God is active, whereas people today are too intelligent. and too educated to ever consider that possibility at all. If this were describing an event today, Potiphar would never say, wow, this kid's God really is blessing us. Something has changed in my house, and it's not something my gods are doing because they've been here all along. It's got to be his God. His God, Jehovah, has really been doing good things for all of us. But if this story were happening today, Potiphar would just say, what a remarkable businessman I am, right? Look at how fortunate I am. I'm really lucky right now, right? Luck is our god. Or maybe he would attribute this to Joseph's competence and skill. This is a really hard worker and a wise young man. Well, he may be a hard worker. He may be a wise young man. But Potiphar has enough sense, even as a pagan, to know that this is ultimately the work of God, and in this case, Joseph's God. One of the remarkable things is that this feature, which runs all through the Old Testament, is really exemplifying what we are taught in the New Testament, as well as in portions of the Law of Moses, that our lives and our experience in this world is to be a witness to the nations of the reality and power and goodness of our God. So Jesus would say in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify you for being such a good person. No, no, that they may see your good works and glorify God. That's exactly what Potiphar's doing here, right? He is seeing Joseph's competence and skill, but who is he glorifying? He's glorifying God. He's glorifying the God of Joseph. He is giving credit where credit is due, so to speak. That's going to continue to be a theme even when we see the children of Israel go into Babylonian exile. So it's something to bear in mind as we read. Verse 4, Joseph found favor in his sight, and he ministered unto him, and made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand to such an extent, verse 6, that Potiphar says, I don't worry about anything except the food that I eat every day. That's my only concern. Now, this doesn't happen overnight. This doesn't happen the first week that Joseph is there. This is a period of years that Joseph is in Potiphar's house, and then a period of time that he is in prison, a couple of years at least, and then a period of years that he serves Pharaoh. He's here a long time, and it's in Potiphar's house where he is learning the Egyptian language, learning the Egyptian culture and customs, and seeing God's hand upon him for good. God prepares Joseph for 20 years for the work that he has sent him into Egypt to do. And that may seem like a long time, but just remember that God spent 75 years preparing Abraham for his life's work. He spent 600 years preparing Noah for his life's work. He spent 80 years preparing Moses for his life's work. We tend to get in a hurry. We set goals, and after two weeks, if I haven't accomplished my goals, I'm getting frustrated. 30 years for Jesus. And 30 years for Jesus, right, exactly. And there is a parallel there, that God is a God who develops and prepares his people, his servants, for the work that he calls them to do. And it's the time that we ought to see his hand of providence upon us. In verse 5, it came to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake. God will bless the nations for the sake of his people. Because I want to say this carefully, but I'm going to say it in a blunt way just to make sure everybody's awake. God doesn't care anything about Potiphar. He cares about Joseph. You know, what happens is we allow the doctrine of the love of God to be so flattened out that we don't recognize the distinctiveness of God's covenantal love for his people. And that is a shame. That's really a shame. Is there an aspect in which God shows a general benevolent love to all people? Yes, absolutely. But when you say silly things like we are all God's children, you're just saying things that are wrong. That's not how the Bible talks about it. God is not the father of all people. God is the father of his adopted children in Christ. We say, well, God loves everybody. Well, again, in one sense, this general benevolent attitude, you could say that, but that's not the way that Scripture talks about God's love. His love is a particular love for His people. I could say, I love every woman in our congregation, but not like I love my wife. I love every child, but not like I love my children. See, if you flatten out the doctrine of God's love, you end up making God's love nothing. And here's the reality. Potiphar is not God's child. He is not God's concern, Josephus. And rather than that somehow troubling your mind, oh, what are we to think of this God? You're supposed to think more highly of him. Because this is the God who loves his people in this way. That he would bless the nations. He would bless the home and estate of a pagan just to take care of his one child in that house. This is how God loves his people. He has ordained all things to work together for their good. Romans 8, 28. That promise does not belong to an unbeliever. Do you realize that? That promise that we print on coffee mugs and we just cherish in our hearts, right? We know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Verse 29 continues, For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Moreover, those whom he chose, he also called. Those whom he called, he also justified. Those whom he justified, he also glorified. And it's then that Paul begins this great statement of comfort to us. Who shall separate us from the love of God? Nothing. But who's he talking to? He's talking to the church. He's not talking about God promising that everything in this life, good or bad, is going to work together for the good of every person. No, that's not true. It's not true. It's not what the Bible teaches at all. It won't work together for the good of an unbeliever. The unbeliever ends up in hell. How does that work together for his good? No, God is working all things together for the good of his people, those whom he has set a special covenantal love upon, those whom he has adopted as his own in Jesus Christ, those whom he has called unto himself. Joseph is one of those people, and Potiphar is the blessed recipient of that gift, not because Potiphar is special, but because Joseph is. Do you see that? Do you see how God loves his people in this passage? This should not be a debated point. This should not be a troubling point. This ought to be just a point that leads us to praise God. This is exactly what Paul says in the first paragraph of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 to 14. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless in love He predestined us to the adoption as sons These are reasons for praise These are reasons to glorify God. These are reasons to be thankful to say God will work even something as awful as this, being sold as a slave into Egypt, He will work it together for good. He will take care of you. There is no place in this world that you are away from God's hand, where His love cannot care for you and touch you and watch over you and provide for you. And so Jesus just says, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all of these material needs that you have, that I have, they will be added to you. Isn't that great? Isn't that a blessing? And you can see it right there, as Joseph is a slave in Potiphar's house. Now verse 7, And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. He is not greater in this house than I, neither 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? And it came to pass, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not listen unto her, to lie by her or to be with her. Now, I remember reading this story as a kid, and honestly, prior to puberty, this story didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, first of all. But even as a young man, very young man, a pre-adolescent, I'm thinking, this is just kind of stupid and gross. I mean, how much older is she than him, right? And then I got a little older and I found out kind of more of what was going on here. And you need to recognize Potiphar is described in a way that makes him a very powerful man in this administration. Let me tell you something about powerful people in the ancient world. They weren't married to old, unattractive women. Potiphar's wife is probably a lot younger than Potiphar, and she is used to getting her way because she is a woman of considerable means. She is a woman of considerable power and influence, and she sees this handsome, young, strong Hebrew slave. He belongs to her. He's supposed to do whatever she says. This woman is not used to people telling her no. And so she gives him the command. She's going to seduce him. Come lie with me. Now, what does Joseph say? Joseph says, To do so would be to betray the confidence and position of your husband. And more than that, it would be great wickedness and a sin against God. Now, I want you to put this in context for a minute, because I'm telling you there is no way that this could happen unless faith is the gift of God. No way this could happen. I want you to put yourself in Joseph's shoes for a minute. Joseph was 17 when he was taken to Egypt. He's a young man. He's not a lot older by this time, right? He's in his early 20s. He's young. He's lonely. He's lonely. He has not had the comfort of his family. He has not had the comfort of his mother, of any woman. in his life for years. More than that, his family is not necessarily noted for their sexual purity. Dinah goes out hanging out with the Canaanite girls and gets herself in a bad situation and ends up being raped. It's not her fault that she was raped. It's part of the context that she finds herself in. Judah, we've already seen, marries a Canaanite woman, and after the mourning over his wife's death is over, he thinks nothing of going and having sex with a cult prostitute, or so he thought. Turns out to be his daughter-in-law. Prior to that, Joseph's oldest brother, Reuben, found an opportunity to commit fornication with his father's concubine. It's not as though Jacob's family is known for having high standards of sexual purity. There is no earthly, human way to understand this kind of integrity unless what the Bible says is true, and that is that faith is indeed the gift of God. If you're looking at Joseph and saying, wow, what a fine, upstanding role model for all young people today. Well, yes indeed, he is. But what you're supposed to say is, wow, what an amazing God. The Lord is taking care of Joseph, not just materially, not just physically, but spiritually. He is protecting Joseph even at a time where we would imagine him to be most vulnerable. There's just no other way to understand this. Joseph has every reason in the world to yield. Can you imagine? You may be thinking to yourself, no, no, if he does this, if he goes to bed with his master's wife and his master finds out about this, he's a dead man. What do you think is going to happen if he doesn't? She's easily as powerful as her husband is. He's between a rock and a hard place, right? You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. There is no good resolution to this. And yet, what do we find Joseph doing? Do we find him weighing his options? Is he doing what Eve does in the garden? Eve's having this conversation with a serpent, and she starts to look at the food. She looks at the piece of fruit, verse 6 of Genesis 3 says, and she saw that it was a delight to the eyes, and good for food, and desirable to make one wise. And she's kind of assessing, should I or shouldn't I? When I counsel young people, in the past in youth lectureships or young people in our church or whatever, when I get to speak to teenagers about these topics, I say, if you wait to decide until you're in the backseat of the car, how far is too far, you're going to go too far. You don't decide in the moment what the boundaries are with regard to sin and purity. But Joseph doesn't have to have a debate with himself about this. Well, you know, I have been alone a long time. I do need to be comforted, and after all, I need to stay in the good graces of this woman because she has the power to hurt me in significant ways. Maybe this is a good idea." He could rationalize this a hundred different ways. He doesn't even begin to. He says, I know who I am. I am a servant to your husband. My master doesn't concern himself about anything in this house. He has committed everything to my care and safekeeping except you because you're his wife. And he says, verse nine, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Maybe Joseph learned this from his father, but if so, he's the only one of the brothers that learned it. He's the only person in the family that appears to know it and understand it and be willing to take a stand on it. And this is remarkable faith, a remarkable commitment to purity. And you know what's a shame? Is that in the modern evangelical church, you don't see this commitment to purity hardly anywhere. You see people shacked up who are members in good standing of evangelical-ish churches. You see people who are teaching Sunday school. who are committing fornication openly. I'm not talking about things that go on in the closet. I'm talking about openly. You see pastors at churches in the East Valley who look the other way on any relationship known as friends with benefits, because it's just the way the world is. Let me tell you something. This is not new. Sexual impurity is not a new innovation. This is a very ancient problem. And a young man who has every reason in the world to give in to this temptation doesn't do it. What is our excuse? Why are we unable to commit ourselves to obedience to God and purity in the face of an impure society? Why are we unable to do that, but this young man was able to? The answer is that God is caring for Joseph. And we need to pray that he would bless the church in our day with this kind of clarity as well. He knows it's sin. He knows it's a great wickedness. He knows it's a betrayal of trust. And so in verse 10, even though she continues to speak to him day by day, notice that the text says he did not listen to her. He was not willing to have the conversation. If you continue to think about it, if you continue to debate it, and it doesn't have to be sexual temptation, I hope you realize this, this is true of any sin. Whether it's eating a forbidden piece of fruit or it's going to bed with your master's wife, if you continue dwelling on that sin, you will talk yourself into it. And Joseph realizes this is not a debate that can be had. There is no need for conversation. As three young men taken into captivity will say some centuries later, Daniel chapter 3 verses 16 through 18, Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, if that is the case, Nebuchadnezzar just said, you either bow down to my God or I'm going to shunk you into a fiery furnace. They say, okay, if that is the case, we have no need to answer you in this matter. Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, but even if he does not, we will not bow down and worship your gods. Even if he does not, whatever comes of this, what if Joseph knows that he's going to be accused of sexual assault and thrown into prison? It doesn't matter. See, the consequences of obedience don't change the imperative, the necessity of that obedience. The consequences of this commitment, this action of integrity doesn't change the reality of what is right and good and true. So it doesn't matter what happens. This is what's right. And that's what Joseph's committed to do. Let's look at the next page, verses 11 through 18. And it came to pass about this time that he, Joseph, went into the house to do his work, and there was none of the men of the house there with him. And she caught him by the garment, saying, Lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got himself out. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and was fled forth, that she called unto the men of her house, and spoke unto them, saying, See, he, this is Potiphar, her husband, he has brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us. He came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me and fled, and got himself out. And she laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. She spoke unto him according to these words saying, the Hebrew servant whom you have brought unto us came in unto me to mock me. And it came to pass as I lifted up my voice and cried that he left his garment by me and fled out. What a colossally wicked woman. Mrs. Potiphar will go down in history in company with people like Jezebel, right? She should be rightly despised and scorned by people who care about truth. This is wrong on so many levels. Day after day, she continues trying to seduce Joseph, and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. He refuses her. This is a powerful woman. Nobody refuses her. Joseph is in the house taking care of his chores, and unfortunately finds himself in the same room with her without any other witnesses. Bad idea. Strategic error. She grabs his garment, his outer garment is what's being described. He doesn't get naked and run away. grabs his shirt, his jacket, and she says, come to bed with me, and he pulls right out and runs. One of the remarkable things about the New Testament teaching on sanctification, sexual purity, over and over, the apostles, Paul particularly, will talk about resisting sin. The book of James, James chapter four, resist, right? Resist the devil and he will flee from you. But when Paul talks about sexual purity, he says, flee fornication. Have you noticed that? It's like everywhere else. He's like, all right, steal yourself, prepare yourself like a man, go to battle with the devil. And if it's a woman trying to seduce you, run. Why? Why? Because young men don't make good decisions in that moment. David is a man after God's own heart. He goes for a walk on his rooftop, looks across the way, sees Bathsheba bathing, and loses his mind. Finds out who she is, knows her husband, knows her grandfather, one of the things we don't learn because we don't read the genealogies, right? And doesn't care, commits adultery with her anyway, eventually murders Uriah, tries to cover it all up. Men don't make good decisions in these kinds of situations. And Joseph does not stop to reason with her. Don't try to reason with a seductress. And again, don't misunderstand. The point here today is not just about sexual temptation. It's about sin and temptation. It's about commitment to purity. It's about God's sovereign providence in the midst of incredible temptations. Don't debate. Don't reason with a seductress. You run. And that's what Joseph does. But of course, now she's really offended. Now she will have her revenge. She calls the servants in and claims that Joseph tried to rape her. And she keeps his garment next to her until Potiphar gets home. Who is Potiphar going to believe? Well, that's an interesting question. Let's read the next paragraph and talk about that. Verse 19. And it came to pass when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke unto him, saying, after this manner did thy servant to me, that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound. And he was there in the prison. But Jehovah was with Joseph and showed kindness unto him and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because Jehovah was with him. And that which he did, Jehovah made it to prosper. The Potiphar comes home. By the way, when Mrs. Potiphar says to her servants, and later reporting no doubt to her husband, this Hebrew servant, this Hebrew slave came in to mock me, she doesn't mean he came in to make jokes about me, but to shame her, to debase her, to humble her, to sexually assault her is what she's saying. And so Potiphar gets home, and she makes this charge. And Potiphar is angry. Now, this is a man who normally, when he gets angry, people die. This translation refers to him as the captain of the guard in the previous mention at the end of chapter 37. Other English translations describe him as the captain of Pharaoh's bodyguard. Some people argue that the Hebrew word there should be translated chief of the executioners. No matter how you translate that word, Potiphar is a man who is associated with violence. It's not like he's the royal accountant. I mean, no offense to accountants. I'm sure they could be violent people if they get angry. But I mean, this is a man who, he's a violent person by trade. That's his position in the kingdom. It's to do bad things to bad people. And he's angry And so he puts Joseph in prison? Seriously? You might be thinking, well, but it's an unsubstantiated claim, and there's not really anything other than circumstantial evidence. Yeah, right, OK. You're thinking with a Western mindset here. Joseph's life is not worth anything. He's a Hebrew slave. Potiphar could kill him for no other reason than that he's in the mood to kill someone. Joseph has no legal protections whatsoever. Which raises an interesting question. Does Potiphar have reason to doubt the integrity of his wife? Perhaps. For whatever reason in Potiphar's mind he does this, we know that ultimately the reason that Joseph survives is God doesn't allow anyone to harm Joseph. this point, we're talking about the sovereignty of God. We said in this ladder, these latter chapters of the book of Genesis, do you see the sovereignty of God in this? I think a lot of people would look at this and say, I can't see God's sovereignty anywhere. I don't see God's province. I mean, this young man nearly gets butchered by his brothers, survives by dumb luck, and then gets sold into slavery, put in Potiphar's house, falsely accused of rape. Now he's in prison. Where is God? He's there the whole time. He's taking care of him the whole time. Sometimes people have, unfortunately, misguided or foolish notions about God's providence. They think that God's providence means that nothing bad is ever going to happen to me. My belly's always going to be full. My bank account is always going to be flush. My children and friends and family are always going to love me. My life is going to be full of good things. And then, when I experience hardship or difficulty, well, where is God? Why is he allowing me to suffer in these ways? Where are all of his promises? I mean, seriously, have a conversation with Joseph. And Joseph is going to have a conversation with Job. Where do we get these ideas? Not from the Bible, I assure you. We don't think that way because we're spending time in Scripture. Because if we're spending time in scripture, we'd have an altogether different conception of God's providence. God's providence is not a promise to spare us from ever suffering. It's a promise to preserve us for the purpose to which and for which he's called us. In fact, that purpose is going to be worked out frequently by means of suffering and hardship and trials. I don't have to wonder about what God is doing in my life. Romans 8 29 that we quoted a few minutes ago answers that question. Those whom he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. He wants me to be like Jesus. Not in the sense of being all powerful and all knowing and the divine son of God, but in the sense of being holy as he is holy. It seems like God says that to his people somewhere. Be holy for I am holy. He says it quite a few times as a matter of fact. That's what God's doing. He's not nearly as concerned about me being happy and healthy and wealthy and wise as He is about me being holy. And what will it take for me to be holy, to be sanctified, to be conformed more fully to the image and glory of Jesus Christ? Well, what it's going to take sometimes is me being sold into slavery, me escaping death by the skin of my teeth, me being falsely accused and lied about, hated, scorned, shunned, Righteous people in the Bible die. They die sometimes in tragic ways. Christians get cancer and they don't recover. A God who can heal a leper doesn't heal in answer to all of our prayers. Christians get killed in car accidents. Christians have all kinds of horrible things happen to them. Where is God in all of this? God is right there taking care of you. But you're thinking that he has a different plan, a different goal in mind than the one he actually has. His goal is for you to be like Jesus. His plan is to bring you through this life to be with him. He's not nearly as worried about the circumstantial experiences of this life as we are. And that doesn't mean he doesn't care. It means that he has a much bigger picture than any of us could possibly have. You know that my son, one of my three sons, nearly died a couple of times of very severe childhood illness. He spent a lot of weeks in the hospitals over the years. There have been times where surgeries have had to be performed at least twice to save his life. And surgery is not pleasant. Surgery is painful. One of the most awful memories I have of that entire experience is him being wheeled back into the room with his eyes bugging out of his head because he's waking up and he's in pain. And we think, why in the world would you ever allow your child to go through that kind of pain? It was for a greater good, believe me. I'd rather him have surgery than have to bury him. And God has a greater good in mind in our suffering. And don't misunderstand, God is not doing anything evil to Joseph. God is not morally responsible for the wicked actions of Potiphar's wife. But God is going to superintend even those evil actions. And he's going to bring a greater good out of it. So Potiphar throws Joseph in prison. And you say, what a terrible thing. Really? Joseph should be dead at this point. Right? This is the second time he should have been killed. Why wasn't he? Because God wouldn't allow him to be. You realize Joseph is bulletproof until the day and hour that God decides Joseph's going to die. Potiphar can't kill him. Joseph's brothers can't kill him. But Joseph doesn't know that. They don't know that. God knows that. God has ordained everything. day of our lives are written in a book while we are still a baby in our mother's womb. And if you doubt it, read Psalm 139 because it says it specifically, explicitly. None of this catches God off guard. He's guiding and governing every step. And when Joseph is thrown into prison, what does the text say? Verse 21, Jehovah was with Joseph and showed kindness unto him. Can God show kindness to his people when they are suffering? That is when we see His kindness most clearly. That's when His kindness is most precious to us. So recognize the blessing, the blessing of having a God who would bring us through trials and use those trials for the greater good of bringing us unto Himself. making us more like his son, teaching us to trust him. Joseph is a very handsome, favored, competent young man. But Joseph is going to remain humble throughout his life, and God will see to that. Remember, Joseph was not characterized by humility when he was living in his father's house. But you know what he's learning in Egypt? He's learning humility. He's learning trust. And that is going to come out very clearly starting in chapter 45 and going through the