Christian Living

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Temptation

Genesis 39

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favour in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’ 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is none greater in this house than I, nor 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? So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her. But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12 that she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, ‘See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.’ 16 So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. 17 Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, ‘The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; 18 so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.’ So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying ‘Your servant did to me after this manner,’ that his anger was aroused. Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph authority, because the Lord was with Him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

In this chapter, we will see how God enabled Joseph to deal with extreme temptation. Trust me this temptation was extreme! Men, imagine how tempting would be if you were at work and a very beautiful woman was smiling with you every day and giving you those little signals that let you know “I am attracted to you”. Joseph’s case was far more tempting than that. Here he is at work, and day in, day out, he has his voluptuous woman saying to him “Joseph, I want you to come and have sex with me”.
Before looking at the temptation itself it is important to note the circumstances surrounding it. Joseph has just been rejected by his own brothers. They threw him into a pit, then sold him into slavery. It is one thing to read biblical accounts like these, but it is good also at times to put yourself in the story and try to imagine how you would have felt. Joseph was in a new country, with no family, rejected by his own brothers and seemingly with no hope. On the surface of it, he was doomed to a life of slavery. Emotionally and spiritually he could have been in a very vulnerable state, wondering
“Why has God allowed this to happen to me?”
“What did I do to deserve this?”

These are the kinds of questions we ask ourselves when trouble comes. We try to analyze and make sense of life when things are not going how we think they should. This can cause us to feel sorry for ourselves. However Joseph didn’t indulge in self-pity. The Bible says that the Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man. The Lord’s presence in Joseph’s life made the difference. By the world’s standards he was a slave with no future. However his circumstances didn’t define who he was. Your circumstances do not determine who you are. If the Lord is with you, you are blessed. You are more successful and blessed than the multi-millionaires who do not have Jesus in their lives.
The temptation that Joseph had didn’t come right away. It didn’t come as soon as he entered Potiphar’s house. It came “after these things”. What things? It came after Joseph was promoted, after the blessings of God were flowing in Potiphar’s home.
That’s when the temptation came, when things were starting to look better for Joseph. Often, temptation will not come at the lowest point of your life. It will come at a time when you are tempted to feel self-righteous and complacent. Joseph if he wasn’t careful, could have justified himself by thinking “well I have just survived that ordeal with my brothers, I have been good so God has blessed me…surely if I have sex this one time, God will forgive…He will see what I have been through and that I was vulnerable to this offer of love and comfort” Thank God he didn’t think this way.

Now the offer of sex comes from this beautiful woman – “lie with me”. There is no flirting, no innuendo. This woman has offers herself to Joseph. Joseph at this point is a virgin and about 18 years old. He was at that natural stage of life when a young man would want to have sex for the first time. Joseph was at a crossroads and his choice here would affect the rest of his life. How did he overcome such an alluring offer?
Firslty,Joseph was bold in his resistance. He didn’t just meekly say “well Maam, I don’t think that would be a good idea, what would your husband say?” He said “Look…” In other words he was saying to her “Pay attention, get this in your head…I am not going to sleep with you”. When serious temptation comes, you have to be decisive and not waver.

Secondly he knew and acknowledged the authority given to him. In resisting Joseph spelt out that he had authority in the house and he knew the boundaries in which he was operating. Potiphar had put great trust in him to run the affairs of his home. He knew that his boss’ wife as off limits and that he would not betray his boss and abuse the authority given to him. This is a key to resisting temptation. God has given you authority in every area of your life – as an individual, in your family, finances, health etc. It is important that you know that He has entrusted you with blessings. Do not yield to temptation, and by doing so betray the trust God has put in you. If you are a husband / wife, do not betray the trust God has given you, by hurting your spouse with an affair. If you work, do not abuse the blessing of that job by being lazy or stealing. If God has blessed you with money, do not abuse that trust by squandering it away. God has given you a healthy body. Do not abuse the authority you have over it, by injecting drugs into it or indulging in sexual immorality. There are many more examples.

Thirdly, Joseph knew that sleeping with Potiphar’s wife would be “great wickedness”. He already weighed it up. It wouldn’t be “a mistake by a lonely red-blooded young man” or a “moment of poor judgement” It would help you and I to sit down and think of an properly judge some of the things we are tempted with before we are tempted with them, so that when they crop up in our lives, we will see them for what they are. If I steal that money…if I take revenge…or spread that rumour…or tell that lie. It would be great wickedness. Often we are tempted to think ‘well it’s not that bad.’ ‘God will forgive me.’ ‘I am strong enough to resist.’ On and on it goes. If we are going to overcome sin, we must learn to hate and reject it. If we condone it in any way, we will always be willing to indulge – even a little. Ephesians 5:11 says ‘…have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose (rebuke, refute) them.’
The temptation didn’t stop there though. When no one was around except Joseph and Potiphar’s wife in the house, she actually grabbed him by his garment saying “lie with me”. Had Joseph wanted to sleep with her, this would have been the most opportune time. Yet still, he ran away leaving the garment in her hand. This shows that with temptation, there may come a point where one has to just turn and run away. The further you get away from the source of temptation, the weaker the temptation gets. Indeed 1 Corinthians 6:18 says “Flee sexual immorality…” Joseph did the right thing. Had he stayed there, he may have been drawn in by her seductive words and beautiful physique!

Potiphar’s wife used the same garment he left in her hand as the basis of false accusation against him. On the surface of it, she got a measure of revenge on Joseph for rejecting her advances. He was sent to prison. How unfair! Where is the justice in that you may ask? Joseph did the right thing and still ended up worse off for it. Yet still, the whole situation was a part of God’s plan for Joseph’s life. God was actually using the temptation to get Joseph into prison! That is where God wanted him. For it is in prison, that God continued to grant Joseph favour. He was put in charge of his fellow prisoners and treated well. Although he didn’t want to be there, God was working out a master plan that would lead to Joseph being in charge of Egypt’s economy, second in command only to Pharaoh in the whole nation.
Imagine if Joseph had sinned against God that day in Potiphar’s house. His life would have taken a different course. If you read the story of Joseph, you will see that his life eventually would impact a whole nation and in fact generations of Israelites after him. Sometimes with temptation you have to weigh up the impact it could have on the rest of your life. You may not know it at the time, but overcoming a particular temptation could open the door to many blessings.

In Joseph, God shows that “all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). He God used extreme temptation to get Joseph into prison and from there to the palace. He turned his life around from rejection, loneliness and injustice to extreme honour, wealth and influence – all to the glory of God.

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