Genesis 39
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
Gen 39: 1Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, purchased him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.
At this time, Joseph was seventeen years old. Judah, the seed son, had immediately separated from the tribe of Israel and intermarried with the Canaanites. Potiphar was a military officer of Pharaoh. Joseph was possibly sold about the year 1898 b.c. If so, then the Pharaoh would have been Sesotris, who ruled from 1897 to 1879 b.c.
The brothers sold Joseph to the Midianites, who sold him to the Ishmaelites, who sold him to Potiphar. The Midianites were the offspring of Abraham and Keturah. The Ishmaelites were the offspring of Ishmael through Abraham and Hagar.
2The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful and lived in the household of his Egyptian master.
As Joseph was living as a slave to Potiphar, Judah (the seed-son) had already given birth to three sons. By the birth of the third son, Joseph was twenty years old.
3His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful.
The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant were with Joseph. As Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons were to be ambassadors and witnesses of the one true God to Canaan, so Joseph was to do the same in Egypt. Egypt was an up-and-coming nation. Egypt will eventually become the second powerful River Valley Civilization. India and China will follow.
4So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar appointed Joseph overseer of his household and put him in charge of everything he owned.
Joseph was placed in a very high position of servanthood.
5From the time Potiphar appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both in his house and in his fields.
Potiphar was being blessed by the Abrahamic Covenant.
6So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; he gave no thought to anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well built and good-looking.
Egyptians did not eat with foreigners. This is why God will later protect the Jewish race from intermarrying with the Canaanites by isolating them in Goshen, Egypt.
Joseph and David were the only two men who were described as handsome men by the Holy Spirit.
7Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Have sex with me.”
Potiphar may have been a eunuch in the Pharaoh’s service. Adultery was just as prevalent in ancient Egypt as it is in modern America.
8But he refused, saying to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought to his household with me here, and everything that he owns he has put into my care.
The master trusted Joseph completely.
9There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”
Joseph chose not to sin against Potiphar and against God. This was Joseph’s witness to this Egyptian woman.
10Even though she continued to speak to Joseph day after day, he did not respond to her invitation to have sex with her.
The witness of Joseph had no effect on the wife of Potiphar, She began to continually harass Joseph sexually.
11One day he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants were there in the house.
This was a dangerous position for Joseph.
12She grabbed him by his outer garment, saying, “Have sex with me!” But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran outside.
The best way to handle sexual temptation is to run away from it. This is what Paul advised Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:22. Satan is going to tempt men of God through sexual temptation. This is why Paul gave this advice to Timothy, who was going to become a future pastor.
13When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside,
The seductress would use this piece of clothing to destroy a man of God.
14she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought in a Hebrew man to us to humiliate us. He tried to have sex with me, but I screamed loudly.
Satan will bring men of God down with false sexual charges. Notice that the seductress accused her husband in front of his servants. She also identified Joseph as a Hebrew, meaning there was an intent of anti-semitism in her spirit. She was also guilty of violating the Abrahamic Covenant.
15When he heard me raise my voice and scream, he left his outer garment beside me and ran outside.”
This was all a lie to discredit God’s ambassador to the Egyptians.
16So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home.
She was going to use this cloth as false evidence against God’s ambassador to Egypt.
17This is what she said to him: “That Hebrew slave you brought to us tried to humiliate me,
She placed the blame on her husband.
18but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his outer garment and ran outside.”
She claimed to be the victim rather than the predator.
19When his master heard his wife say, “This is the way your slave treated me,” he became furious.
The text does not state if the master was angry at his wife or at Joseph.
20Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison.
The Hebrew word for “prison” is בֵּ֣ית הַסֹּ֔הַר (bayit ha-sahar), meaning a royal prison. It was used only this one time in Scripture. This prison was under Potiphar’s authority. Potiphar was the Chief Officer of the Executioners, so he could have executed Joseph. Since he did not, he may not have believed his wife’s story.
Joseph served Pharaoh for 8-10 years. During this time, Judah’s three sons were 5-10 years old.
21But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden.
According to Psalm 105:18-19, Joseph suffered physical suffering and torture. However, Joseph’s character impressed the prison guard, so Joseph was granted kindness.
22The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing.
The prison guard completely trusted Joseph in everything.
23The warden did not concern himself with anything that was in Joseph’s care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.
The warden did not even have to check on Joseph, because he was so trustworthy. Joseph was an ambassador to the prison as well. Joseph and the warden were both blessed by the Abrahamic Covenant.
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The human viewpoint of the satanic world system is that once an unbeliever or carnal Christian gains economic power and authority, then they will use their economic power and authority to obtain sexual favors. Liberal administrators in power will not promote into leadership positions men and women with strong Bible doctrine. Instead, they will promote employees who succumb to their sexual advances.
Many employees who lack strong Bible doctrine will climb up the ladder of success by providing sexual favors to their employers. This is why many businesses, educational institutions, governmental institutions, and military institutions promote so many ungodly people into leadership positions. For example, Hollywood is full of many homosexuals and prostitutes who sold their bodies for fame and fortune.
If a man or woman bears all on the movie screen, then are they nothing but expensive prostitutes? If men and women accept positions of authority or fame for sexual favors, then are they nothing but expensive prostitutes?
When homosexuals gain power, they promote homosexuals. When lesbians gain power, they promote lesbians. When feminists gain power, they promote feminists. When Masons gain power, they promote Masons. When Mormons gain power, they promote Mormons. When Jehovah Witnesses gain power, they promote Jehovah Witnesses. When Muslims gain power, they promote Muslims. When Jews gain power, they promote Jews. When Catholics gain power, they promote Catholics. When liberal theologians gain power, they hire liberal theologians to teach in their seminaries. When Covenant theologians gain power, they hire Covenant theologians in their seminaries. The end result is that churches are full of liberal theologians and Covenant Theologians. The Word of God is not being rightly divided in the majority of churches.
When liberals gain control of the government, then they pass affirmative action laws. The motive of affirmative action laws is not to protect minorities, but to gain the minority vote, stay in power, and pass more liberal laws. When a minority is given a job over a more qualified non-minority because of affirmative action laws, then this action is reverse racism. If the leaders of Big Business possessed and applied better Bible doctrine, then they would promote the person with the best Bible doctrine and the best skills for the job, regardless of race. Affirmative action is a result of a biblically poor electorate who is racist, but they use reverse racism as a political avenue to gain power at the ballot box.
It is important to note that there will be no need for affirmative action laws during the coming Millennial Kingdom. During the Millennial Kingdom, men and women will be promoted not because of their race, but by their study and application of Bible doctrine while they were living in their physical bodies during their pre-Millennial Kingdom existence on earth. However, since believers do live in the satanic world system, then affirmative action did have the effect of raising the lifestyle of many minorities who were being overlooked for promotions because of their race. However, the cost of this reverse racism is the support of liberals who pass unbiblical laws such as homosexuality, lesbianism, socialism, abortion, and transgenderism. The minority believer with strong Bible doctrine will not support this kind of liberal agenda. Instead, the biblically mature minority believer will trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to supply them with food, shelter, and clothing.
It is interesting to note that many minorities will support a godless liberal agenda in exchange for the economic power that they receive from affirmative action. Liberals do not have enough Bible doctrine to love minorities, Muslim refugees, illegal immigrants, or prisoners. However, they do want their vote so that they can stay in power and pass more liberal legislation. The goal of liberal politics is to stay in power, pass more godless legislation, and turn over all of the nations of the world to the Antichrist. The godless feminists, the godless immigrants, and the godless minorities are voting godless liberals into power in exchange for economic advantages. They are selling out the Biblical values of the Lord Jesus Christ for a liberal agenda which promises them more material wealth through reverse racism laws.
Feminists will vote for liberal politicians, just because they want the right to fornicate and murder their own children. Fornication and murder were capital offenses in the Mosaic law, but feminists have legalized both of them! If men worked and women stayed at home and raised their own children, then the job market would become more competitive. Owners would have to raise their wages in order to attract the best workers. Women could home school their children in Biblical principles. The result would be a Biblically informed electorate who would not be interested in materialism. This new kind of electorate would vote into office the man with the best Bible doctrine, regardless of race or color.
Hollywood, the government, the military, Big Business, and educational institutions are full of homosexuals, prostitutes, and liberals. These men and women have rejected God and the Bible. They have elevated their own human opinions above the Word of God. They are the liberals of the world. Their agenda is to pass liberal laws in order to protect and advance their liberal agenda.
If a conservative Christian with strong divine viewpoint gets in their way, then liberals will not hesitate to use sexual harassment accusations to bring them down. Sexual harassment laws were created to bring down strong Christians.
Liberals who reject divine authority have no problem in advancing their personal careers by succumbing to sexual advances. The mature believer with strong Bible doctrine will not succumb to these advances.
If a mature believer does come into economic power, then the liberals have no problem bringing them down with false accusations. This has been done many times in the political and business world.
The liberal media will ignore and/or wink at the sexual harassment predatory actions of a liberal President. However, this same liberal media will bring down conservative Presidential candidates with false accusations. According to the Mosaic Law, there must be two or more witnesses to prove a crime. When one woman accuses a conservative Presidential candidate of sexual harassment, then the electorate should have enough Bible doctrine to question or disregard these accusations. The electorate needs to understand the spiritual principles behind Potiphar’s wife and Joseph.
The divine viewpoint of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God is that Satan is real. He will use liberal puppets in power to make false accusations against his conservative opponents. The liberal media is nothing but puppets of Satan. Sexual harassment is their weapon. They are looking to bring down the Josephs of the world.
When the mature believers are attacked with false sexual harassment by the liberals of the world, the mature believers need to understand the lessons of Joseph. God is there. God is sovereign, He is not silent, He is in control. He has ordained this conflict before the foundations of the world. The angels are watching. The people on the earth are watching. The liberals are watching and finding out who they really are. The mature believers understand the conflict and know that God will eventually gain the glory.
In Ephesians 6, Paul teaches the believer how to handle these types of spiritual conflicts. However, the deep truths of Ephesians 6 cannot be totally understood unless the believer has studied all of the Biblical examples which precede it. This is why every believer needs to study the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level. If they fail to do so, then the result is a liberal government who will usher in the Antichrist. However, God will even turn this bad result into good. The Antichrist must come to show the world the evil of liberalism. Then, the Lord Jesus Christ will return and bring in the 1000 year Millennial Kingdom. After 1000 years of Biblical conservative politics, all of the angelic world and all of the people of the earth will possess first-hand experience of liberalism and conservatism. They will have no doubt that liberalism is evil and Biblical conservatism is good.
Do not take the broad road which leads to destruction. Be a Joseph. Stand up for God. Always vote for the man with the best Bible doctrine.