Showing posts with label Joseph. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joseph. Show all posts

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Ge. 48: Israel Blesses Eph and Manny

Well, by this time, old man Israel is ailing, and Joseph takes his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to go see him. When Israel hears tell that his boy Joseph is there, and he brought the grandkids, he sits up in bed. He tells Joseph about the stairway dream he had, where the LORD told him that He would make Israel fruitful, increase in number, and give him this land as an everlasting possession to the descendants after him. Everlasting, as in everlasting everlasting? Like...forever? As in, would never end? Like eternity? Not sure if Joseph heard him tell this story before. It was years before he was born.

Israel then tells Joseph that the two sons born to Joseph in Egypt will be reckoned as Israel's, just like Reuben or Simeon. Joseph adopts the two boys as his own. He confers upon them all rights and blessings as if they were his own sons. This I find amazing. I wonder if in this time, they and Joseph sort of felt that they were in some kind of ancestral limbo. They were after all, half Hebrew and half Egyptian. You know, which table do they eat at on Thanksgiving and Christmas....the Hebrew table or the Egyptian table? Now they have a home. They have their ancestry and their nationality clearly defined.

Any children born after these two will belong to Joseph, and will inherit territory in the land of Manny and Eph. Then Israel tells Joseph how Rachel died and when, and where they buried her. Joseph was probably too young to really comprehend it at the time. I don't know.

Israel finally meets Joseph's sons, and kisses them and embraces them as they sat on his knees. The gift of grandchildren. Israel says in verse 11, "I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too." What joy Israel had in this simple, yet amazing gift from God! This son, once feared dead and gone, is alive! And brings amazing blessings!

Interesting here is how Jacob arranged Manasseh and Ephraim in front of Israel for their blessings. He places his oldest, Manasseh at Israel's right hand, and the younger Ephraim at Israel's left hand, in order to receive what Israel had to give. The blessing was given with the right hand, the symbolically stronger hand. But as we have seen, the younger Isaac received the blessing, and the younger Jacob received the blessing.

Israel follows suit. He crosses his arms, and puts his right hand on the head of Ephraim. He blesses Joseph first, and then confers on them his ancestry along with Abraham and Isaac, and that they would increase greatly.

Joseph sees that his arms are crossed. He actually reaches out and takes Israel's hand from the head of Ephraim's and moves it to Manasseh's. It may have been because Manny was the first born, and it may be because, like his fathers, Joseph had a favorite between them. Is this that drastic of a change or a deviation? Why the second or younger? What is God's reason for doing this, or allowing this?

"No, my father, this one is the first born. Put your right hand on his head." That may be how they do things in Egypt...

"I know, my son. I know. He too will become a great people. But his younger brother will be greater than he. And his descendants will be a group of nations."

He pronounces them Ephraim and Manasseh. Not Manasseh and Ephraim.

Then to Joseph, he says, "I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. Have some choice land I took from the Amorites."

Well, didn't Joseph have everything he needed in Egypt? Couldn't they take over Egypt anyway? What about Joseph's other brothers. Do they not get an audience with their dying father? We'll find out tomorry, I'm sure.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Ge. 47: Settling in Goshen, Egypt Enslaved

Joseph reports to Pharaoh that Jacob and his family are now in Egypt, and living in Goshen. He takes five of his brothers and presents them to Pharaoh and they tell him that they are shepherds, moved to Egypt from Canaan, because of the severity of the famine. They had no pasture. They asked Pharaoh's permission to stay in Goshen. Pharaoh, because of his appreciation for what Joseph has meant to him, gives his blessing.

Then old man Jacob comes in. He's so old, Pharaoh can't help but be like, "How old are you old timer?" Jacob says "A buck thirty. But no where near as difficult as the years of my fathers."

Joseph settles them in Rameses, the Ada of Egypt, and provided them with land and food according to their children.

And there is much rejoicing.

But, all of Egypt didn't have any food. So big government takes over. First the people spent all their money on grain. Then the money was all gone. Joseph had it all.

The people came before Joseph in need, and since they had no money, Joseph suggested they trade their livestock. So the livestock becomes property of Pharaoh. Then all the livestock was gone.

The people came before Joseph in need, and since they had no livestock, Joseph bought them into servitude. So the people become property of Pharaoh. The only way they would not die is to become slaves.

Well that sucks. Joseph enslaved Egypt. Nice guy.

The priests were under a different system. Pharaoh paid for them. Apparently they had no separation of church and state. The clergy were government employees.

So not only were the people of Egypt slaves, they had to give back 1/5 of their crop yields to the Pharaoh. And it became law. So the Israelites settled in Egypt in the land of Goshen. They, as opposed to the Egyptians, acquired proprty and were fruitful. When Jacob was 147, he asked that Joseph take him out of Egypt and bury him in the land of his fathers. Joseph swore it to him.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Ge. 46: Jacob goes to Egypt

So Israel/Jacob (the Bible goes back and forth on this. Not really sure why. Maybe it goes way back where in one place it's Jon, and in another it's John. Is this enough to make me renounce my faith? Probably.) packs up the entirety of his possessions and heads south to Egypt. When he gets to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the LORD.

Anyway, in chapter 46, God spoke to Israel in a vision. I wonder if God was silent for this long time while Joseph was in Egypt. Apparently God told him nothing about what was going on with Joseph. Even in the midst of Israel's heartbreak and mourning, God was silent. As a human person, my reaction to this realization is, "Well, isn't God a God of comfort?" And God is. The comfort comes with quick answers, and sometimes it takes years to get the answers. God didn't let Israel drown in his despair. A father's beloved son was given over to death, and while Israel wept, God had planned out the entire path. Ending in an amazing posterity.

Anyway...yeah, God spoke to Israel, saying "I am your God, don't be afraid to go to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation, and I will bring you back again. Joseph's own hand will close your eyes." I'm guessing the "close your eyes" thing refers to the time at death where Joseph will be there to close his eyes...to bury him.

So the whole family packs up and moves on from there...once again, visual learner:

Israel and Jacob meet in Goshen, and its what you would expect....very emotional, they threw their arms around each other, and wept for a long time. Israel is ready to die now that he has seen that Joseph is still alive.

Then Joseph wants to introduce the whole gang to Pharaoh. So he tells them to tell Pharaoh the truth about what they do and who they are, since they are detestable shepherd types. If they do that, then they'll be able to settle in Goshen. Nice!

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Ge. 45: They Make Themselves Known

So Joseph gets all antsy-in-his-pantsy and can't bear to wait another second longer to tell his brothers who he is. He throws out all non-Hebrews and starts weeping, so loud that the Egyptians heard him. (I think that's where we get that expression..."Man, his car stereo was so loud the Egyptians heard it.")

Then Joseph busts out, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" It had been over twenty years by this point. If I were to put myself in, say, Asher's shoes at this point, I'd be like..."how does he know about Joseph?" And once I realized he was serious, I'd pee my pants with fear. There's no telling what this weeping lunatic is going to do.

Then, in convincing his brothers who he is, he reveals an amazing work of the LORD. This is too wonderful. Not just what God did, but how Joseph realizes it. I hope you'll read it. I just love how the NKJV delivers it:

"But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt."

Can you believe that? Deliverance! Preservation! The dreams. The attitude. The selling. The prison. The place of honor. God was there, guiding all of that. God put that all together. In a coming time of need, God put in place a plan to preserve the family of Jacob. Years in advance. Everything that happened had meaning, and was a piece of a puzzle. God moved a nation to save a family. God had Joseph sold by his brothers for a reason. Had him become the servant of a high-ranking official for a reason. Falsely accused by Mrs. Potiphar for a reason. Imprisoned for a reason. Able to interpret the dreams of servants of the king for a reason. All these horrible things, God put together for something amazing.

Joseph realizes that it was God who did this. At the height of amazing power and position, Joseph didn't forget who put him there. Joseph tells his brothers to go home and tell his father what he has told them, and bring him back quickly.

Joseph even tells the Pharaoh what's going on, and the Pharaoh is pleased, and makes it so that Joseph's brothers have all the luxuries and gifts and provisions Egypt can offer for their journey back to Canaan. He gives Benjamin all this extra silver (on the sly or out in the open, I'm not really sure...doesn't say) and then promptly tells them not to quarrel on the way.

So they get back home, and they tell Jacob about what Joseph had told them, and that he is the ruler of Egypt. I had to laugh, because I pictured how I thought Jacob must have reacted. He was stunned. Probably thought they were messing with him. He thought his favorite son was long dead. Can you imagine the joy when Jacob saw all the loot they brought back from Egypt? Not superficially, in that..."Yay, I have all this stuff." No. "My son is alive." The NIV says Jacob's spirit was revived at that point. Now he was excited to go see his son.

Next time, on benchescleared:

The journey back.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Ge. 44: Who's Got The Silver Cup? Benjamin's Got The Silver Cup.

So after the feasting and joy is all done, Joseph, unbeknownst to his brothers, gives similar instructions as in chapter 42. Fill the sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put the silver back. I don't know if Joseph mentioned these were his brothers to the stewards, or if the stewards caught on, or what. Perhaps they were used to crazy orders from a capricious Pharaoh. You know, like, "Dig up that tree, and move it ten feet to the left." Or "Execute this slave with a flaming arrow, but force-feed him this pineapple first."

This time, Joseph tells them to put his silver cup in the youngest one's sack.

Well, the brothers were up with the sun, and gone with the wind. They didn't get far when Joseph sends his steward to go catch up to them and ask them why they repaid generosity with thievery. Why they took the cup the master uses for divination. Not sure what that's all about, perhaps to keep up the deception?

Of course the brothers are like, "Whatever, we didn't do anything. Why would we do that? Tell you what, if anyone has that stuff, he will die, and we'll be your slaves." Their certainty and impetuousness with these vows has got to stop. I would never promise myself as a slave to anyone, regardless of how sure I am the sun revolves around the earth.

Wouldn't you know it, the cup was in Benjamin's sack. D'oh. So they tore their clothes in agony and returned to the city. Remember what they promised Jacob?

Joseph, who wants to make these people suffer or something snaps at them, but only says he'll keep Benjamin as a slave. Judah, who had made a pretty intense vow tells Joseph the whole story about what he told his dad in chapter 43, mentioning how closely bound their father's life is with the well being of his youngest son. I think these guys' hearts are finally melting.

Pretty agonizing for them. Now they have to return to dad empty handed, exactly as they promised they would not.

When is Joseph going to put an end to this madness? His big reveal: Tomorrow.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Ge. 43: Ben Fu: Da Return

OK, so, the famine is still going on in chapter 43, Simeon is still in prison, and Jacob's family is running out of grain. Probably didn't take long. Jacob, who had no way of knowing how long the famine was going to last, told the brotherhood to go back to Egypt and score a little more grain.

Judah tells his dad that Joseph said "You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you." At least in the NIV. I had to look, but I didn't remember Joseph saying that. Perhaps this was a "to-the-best-of-my-recollection" incident, or maybe Joseph said it and it wasn't recorded. Eh, anyway, Joseph's orders were to bring back the youngest in order to not die.

Jacob asks, "Why on earth did you tell him you had another brother?"

The boys reply like, "Whaaat....he was giving us the bare-bulb interrogation treatment, and we had diarrhea of the mouth." You know, where you just run your mouth until something that makes sense comes out. They didn't know he would want them to bring Benjamin back.

Judah gets even more testy and self-assured, saying that he would bear full responsibility for what happens to Benjamin, and that they should stop screwing around and hit the road. They could have been there and back twice, for Pete's sake.

Jacob is finally convinced. He has them prepare gifts from the land, as well as double the silver to pay for the past grain and the new grain. In an amazing example of being able to let go, Jacob/Israel brings back Mr. Cool. He prays that God will give them mercy so that Simeon and Benjamin and all that will come back alive. "If I am bereaved, I am bereaved." Is that a weird acceptance of what may or may not happen? I think that reminds me of me...the desire to prepare myself either way, for whatever outcome God may have, as I'll have to live with it either way.

So Joseph sees them coming in the distance, Benjamin with them, he decides its time to party. He has his steward slaughter an animal, and prepare the noon meal.

So, if you are already scared of what Joseph is going to do to you, not knowing what's coming, and then he has you come to his house personally? That's a scary thought. Like being sent to the principal's office. Only the principal has a guillotine or something in the back. They figured Joseph wanted to enslave them and seize their donkeys.

Isn't it interesting that the things we treasure, we sometimes assume others would treasure...at least I assume that. And these shepherds figured the governor or Egypt needed, or would confiscate their meager donkeys.

Anyway, they plead with Joseph's steward, saying they didn't know about the silver in their sack, so they brought it back, plus enough to pay for more grain. Wonder if they had enough to cover interest?

Joseph's steward lies about God, saying God put it back in their sacks and that he received their silver. Isn't that heartwarming? I don't believe this dishonesty even in the spirit of giving pleased the LORD.

So Simeon is released, they wash up, feed the donkeys, and Joseph comes home at noon to gifts and more bowing from the brotherhood of the Jacob.

"How is your aged father?"

"Alive and well." More bowing.

He sees Benjamin and is moved so deeply that he has to leave the room to go weep. Again. He composes himself and comes back. "Serve the food," is his order.

They all have to eat separately, Joseph alone, the brothers alone, and the Egyptians alone. Why? Well, there is a very good reason. Egyptians detested eating with Hebrews, those dirty shepherds. Even though Joseph was in charge of them, it didn't change the fact that he was a dirty Hebrew.

But the brothers got to be amazed because their seating order was in order of their ages. Benjamin received 5 times as much portionage as everyone else. More favoritism. Which is a great idea. Not. Anyway, there was much feasting.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Ge. 42: Joseph Messes with His Brothers

Wouldn't you know it, the worldwide famine crisis spreads to Canaan, where Jacob and his family still live.

Jacob tells his boys about Egypt, where he heard tell there was grain. In order to not die, he sends his boys down there to get some. So, everyone but Benjamin packs it up and head down there. Benjamin stayed behind, because Jacob feared what would have happened to him, the last remnant of Rachel. It was probably in Jacob's mind that the guys couldn't (or wouldn't) protect Benjamin.

When they got there, Joseph recognized them, but they didn't recognize him. It had been over 13 years, and Joseph was no longer a boy. Joseph's brothers, as he had dreamed back in chapter 37, bowed down to him, but Joseph spoke harshly to them. Finally, he can be in power over these guys who wanted to kill him, who sold him, and who let his father believe he was dead. He (pretendfully) accuses them of being spies, scoping out his land. But one of them answered, "No, we want to buy food. We come from Canaan, the youngest is with dad, and one is dead."

Joseph wanted to see Benjamin, his full blood brother, so he makes a deal with them. To prove they aren't spies, Joseph tells them to send one back home to bring the youngest back, and he will keep nine of them in prison. So for three days, the brothers sit in jail. Then Joseph comes back with another deal. Keep one guy here in prison, and the other nine go back home to bring back the youngest...so they won't die.

The brothers, no stranger to God's justice, assume God is punishing them for what they did to Joseph, and that they didn't listen when Joseph pleaded for his life. And maybe God did have them by the ear on this one, even though they were never really in danger. Don't you wonder if God uses situations like that? Times where God kind of lets you come to realization of where you messed up, and you think He's punishing you, but in reality, its your own guilty conscience? Hm. Reuben pipes up, "I knew we shouldn't have done that. I told you not to. Now we must account for his blood." All this in full view of Joseph, who we come to find out is using an interpreter, although he understood his brothers speaking his native language. I find this pretty amazing. His brothers had no way of knowing he knew their language.

Upon hearing Reuben's reply, he turned away from them and wept. Why? Was it because there was a shred of love in at least one of his brothers? That someone in his family cared about him? That this would be a chance to reconcile with them? I'm sure a million different emotions flooded back through Joseph's mind.

So he had Simeon taken from them, and imprisoned.

Unbeknownst to his brothers, Joseph gave orders to return each man's silver back into their sack, and to give them provisions for the journey home.

What mercy! What forgiveness....It would be very hard for me to want to be kind to those who betrayed me, and essentially wanted me dead. But Joseph shows me how a person who walks with God is supposed to act toward those who treat him poorly.

On the trip home, one of them discovers the silver, and they still think God is up to something.

When they get back to Canaan, they tell Jacob about their encounter with the governor of Egypt, about how they were treated as spies, and the deal he made, and why Simeon didn't return. As they emptied their sacks, each man found the silver used to pay for the grain. The showed Jacob, and he finally freaks. Mr. Cool loses his mind, saying, "everything is against me, Joseph is dead, Simeons is probably dead, and now you want to take Benjamin away."

Reuben, who really trusts this Egyptian guy, offers his two sons lives as collateral if they don't return with Benjamin. He vows to bring him back. Ah, Reuben. The oldest. The wisest. Except his sons probably weren't too thrilled about the deal, depending on how old they were. Chapter 42 ends with Jacob refusing to let them take Benjamin back. And I think, What about Simeon? Maybe Jacob feared they'd all be killed if they went back, and bought more grain with the same silver they bought the first round with?

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Ge. 41: Dream on, Pharaoh...

So Joseph basically languishes in jail for two more years.

The Pharaoh had a dream.

Seven sleek and fat cows come out of the Nile and graze among the reeds. Then seven ugly and gaunt cows come out of the Nile, and swallow up the sleek and fat ones.

Then Pharaoh woke up.

Then Pharaoh went back to sleep, and had himself another dream.

Seven healthy and good heads of grain grow on a single stalk. Then seven thin and scorched heads of grain sprout on the same stalk, and swallow up the healthy and good ones.

What a nerd, dreaming about stalks of grain.

Anyway, these dreams were weird enough to trouble him, so he has all his wise men come and try their hand at interpretating said dreams. Couldn't do it. Then Cuppy-Boy from chapter 40 pipes up and says, "I did time with a Hebrew who could interpret dreams. The Fabulous Baker Boy and I had these dreams, and stuff happened exactly the way he said it would."

Pharaoh, who probably was familiar with Joseph, sends for him, and like Dokken, asks him if he can interpret what happened "In my dreams."

Joseph says, "I can't. God can." Something I need to say more often. Anyway, Joseph tells him the dreams are one and the same. And what have we learned when God says something twice?

What Joseph relays to Pharaoh is that the seven good cows and heads are seven good years of crop yield. The seven lousy cows and heads are seven years of famine. The swallowing up will mean that the famine will be so bad that people will forget the seven good years even happened. That's a darn bad famine. The repetition was because it had firmly been decided by God. It was going to happen.

God had given Pharaoh a great gift. He basically enumerated exactly what His will was for the next 14 years. What would you give to have that kind of knowledge? Can you imagine knowing what to expect 14 years out? I'd feel like Biff Tannen with the Sports Almanac. This wasn't a generic warning, like, "Ehh, it'll be ok for a little while, and then suddenly, life will suck." Wow...what a gift, and, while Pharaoh had no specific ill will toward God Almighty, he still worshipped the sun and dog-headed guys and all that. In spite of this, God chose to use Joseph in an amazing way (saving his nation) to be a blessing to him. Sure, God could have saved Pharaoh's nation by not sending the famine, but at least now Pharaoh was aware of the power of the LORD, where he wouldn't have been before.

So Joseph tells Pharaoh he better get someone wise to be in charge over the land, and oversee the collecting and storing of necessities to wait out the famine, suggesting they stash away one fifth of the harvest.

Pharaoh's like, "Good idea. Do we know anyone like that? You know, wise, and in the Spirit of God?"

At this point, I imagine Joseph wanted to slap him upside the head with his scepter.

Pharaoh eventually decides that Joseph will be this man. Derr... Not only that, Pharaoh decides that his people will submit to Joseph's orders, and only with respect to the throne will Pharaoh be in charge of him, giving Joseph his signet ring, fine linens and bling. He even got to ride up front in Pharaoh's chariot like a big boy! What a deal!

Pharaoh decides that Joseph needed a proper Egyptian name, so he goes with Zaphenath-Paneah, and gives him the priest of On's daughter, Asenath.

The seven years were amazingly plentiful, to the point that Joseph ... er...Zaphenath-Paneah decides that he doesn't need to keep track anymore. This name change did not have the meaning that Abram > Abraham or Jacob > Isaac had. It had meaning only to Pharaoh, not to Joseph.

The time of plenty in harvest was also a time of plenty from Joseph's loins. Asenath bore him two sons, Manasseh, which meant something along the lines of "forget my troubles," and Ephraim, meaning "fruitful."

The famine, when it finally came, apparently affected the lands surrounding Egypt. When people went to Pharaoh, he told them to go to Joseph. In fact, the Word said the famine was worldwide in verse 57.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Ge. 40: I Dream of Squeezing Pharaoh's Grapes...

So this prison in which Joseph was given charge was apparently a prison for (formerly) important people...near to the Pharaoh and his officials.

For some reason, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker both offended the Pharaoh for some reason...probably made fun of his eyeliner or something...and found themselves in prison with Joseph.

On the surface, I think...the cupbearer? The baker? Pointless. But these had to be very close people to someone as important as the Pharaoh. Plus, remember what it's like to bite into some freshly baked bread thats crusty on the outside, and warm and squishy on the inside? That's an art form to be able to bake that. The main function of these two was to keep potential poison as far from the Pharaoh as possible.

So anyway, as expected, the warden has Joseph keep an eye on them.

And wouldn't you know it, they both had a dream on the same night. Not just any dream. No. A prophetic dream. Would you expect any less from Genesis 40? I wouldn't. Anyway.

When Joseph, who deals in dreams himself, sees them all dejected in the morning and asks what the deal is.

"We're sad because we have no one to interpret our dreams." Well, boo hoo. No one interprets my dreams. But these guys came from a pretty pampered place where they could get a sorcerer if they wanted one to tell them what their dreams meant. So they were probably used to that sort of thing.

Joseph manages to do a little evangelizing, saying "Do not interpretations belong to God?" He asks about their dreams.

Cuppy-boy saw a vine with three branches. It budded, blossomed, and ripened into grapes. He squeezed the grapes into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand. I would interpret that as a work dream. You know, where you start a new job, and you spend all night sort of half awake/half asleep semi-dreaming that you are doing that job? (I hate those.)

Joseph has a different interpretation revealed to him. Apparently, the three branches were three days, and in three days, Pharaoh would restore Cuppy to his position, because that was his job. Then Joseph tells him that when things are OK again, to tell Pharaoh about him, because Joseph was sick of prison probably. I've never spent time in an Egyptian prison, but I don't imagine it was peaches and cream, in spite of Joseph's position.

The Fabulous Baker Boy was geeked, because Cuppy had a favorable interpretation. His dream went like, "I had three baskets of bread on my head. In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds kept eating them." Joseph tells him that the baskets are three days. In three days Pharaoh will behead him, hang him on a tree...oh, and the birds will eat his flesh. Not so favorable.

In three days, it was Pharaoh's birthday! Yay! He gave a feast for all his officials, including Cuppy and the Fabulous Baker Boy. He restored the cupbearer, and everyone was like, "Wooooooo!" Then he beheads the baker, and people are like..."Ooh...this party really died. He baked the cake first right?"

So it all happened just like Joseph had said. Except the cupbearer did not remember Joseph to Pharaoh.

Weird.

Let's review

Gen. 21: The birth of Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael deported
Gen. 22: Abraham doesn't sacrifice Isaac
Gen. 23: Death of Sarah, deal for a burial plot
Gen. 24: Isaac and Rebekah hook up
Gen. 25: Death of Abraham, Jacob and Esau born
Gen. 26: Isaac and Abimelech
Gen. 27: Jacob steals the blessing, Esau freaks
Gen. 28: Jacob's stairway of angels dream
Gen. 29: Jacob meets Rachel, marries her and Leah
Gen. 30: Bilhah, mandrakes, genetic experiments
Gen. 31: Jacob flees, Laban chases
Gen. 32: Jacob readies to meet Esau, wrestles God
Gen. 33: Jacob meets Esau
Gen. 34: Dinah raped, Shechem pillaged
Gen. 35: Jacob returns to Bethel, deaths of Isaac and Rebekah
Gen. 36: Esau's descendants
Gen. 37: Joseph's dreams, sold by his brothers
Gen. 38: Judah and Tamar
Gen. 39: Potiphar's wife, Joseph imprisoned
Gen. 40: The cupbearer and the baker

Ge. 39: "Mrs. Potiphar, You're Trying to Seduce Me."

Joseph had to grow up in a hurry, and the story of him and Potiphar in chapter 39 is a pretty interesting one. Not only does it show that blessings come to those who trust in the God of Abraham, but it shows just how far God can take a person in spite of the situation they are facing.

What better example than Joseph?

He is sold by his brothers as property to the Midianite traders. I am sure that he brought good things to them before he was bought by Potiphar, the captain of the Pharaoh's guard. The LORD was with Joseph, and he prospered in Potiphar's home. Potiphar even recognized that it was the LORD that was the source of this prosperity. As Joseph cultivated this reputation of being an upstanding citizen, in spite of his being a slave, Potiphar put him in charge of everything in his household except for the food he ate. And why wouldn't he? With Joseph in charge, the LORD was in charge. Its a good life.

Joseph was a pretty studly guy, and Potiphar's wife knew it. She was pretty up-front with what she wanted with Joseph.

"Come to bed with me!"

I am assuming Potiphar's wife was a woman who was used to getting what she wanted, this coming from her place of privilege, marrying a high ranking official of the Pharaoh himself...who was essentially a god.

Joseph's response was essentially that he could not do such a wicked thing, considering the place of esteem in which Potiphar held him. Potiphar had given Joseph just about everything. Except his wife. Joseph had an amazing heart attitude in that he equated sinning against his master to sinning against God.

And this wasn't a one-time passing fancy with Pot's wife, it became an obsession. The Word says "day after day" she tried to seduce him. She didn't get the message.

Finally one day, he went into the house, and there was no one else around, except Mrs. Robins...uh...Potiphar. Solitude is often the cruelest test for one's integrity. She caught him by his cloak and demanded once more, as usual, "come to bed with me." But he left his cloak in her hand, and ran out of the house. He fled this sin. Flat-out refusal was not working. Joseph needed another approach, lest he give in, and that was to make his escape. To run away.

So Mrs. Potiphar is standing there in Joseph's dust...probably humiliated and angry. How could this slave boy not want to sleep with her...a trophy wife! Fa! So she calls all the servants, saying, "Look, this Hebrew boy has come to make sport of us. I screamed, and he left his cloak in my hand!"

And the servants probably looked at each other saying, under their breath, "I didn't hear a scream...you?...no...you?...uh uh...." They probably were accustomed to her behavior by then anyway, and I assume they probably knew the deal.

When Potiphar hears it, for some reason he believes his slutty wife over God's servant. Which is the way sometimes, right?

Anyway, Potiphar throws Joseph in prison. But God did not abandon him there. The warden recognized that the LORD was with this young man, and his reputation from Potiphar's household preceded him. So eventually, the warden gave Joseph charge over those held in the prison. So much so, that the warden didn't even give Joseph a second thought. Pretty amazing to have that kind of success from God.

I think what this passage tells me about God is that He will throw circumstances at you, or allow them to come to you, but still won't leave your side. And that's a blessing to me. It causes me not to fear adversity, because it will come, but God is never distant.