Chapter 39

Notice that all depends on who and what the Lord is, and the Lord is always faithful. Notice verse 2, “And the Lord was with Joseph.” Verse 3, “… his master saw that the Lord was with him.” Verse 21, “But the Lord was with Joseph.” Verse 23, “…the Lord was with him.” So this is the chapter of the faithfulness of God. And just as the Lord was with Joseph in all these situations, so the Lord is with the believer in every situation in life, and He is faithful, He is gracious, and even when we fail Him He never fails us. That is grace.

Verse 1 – the Ishmaelites were only half of the caravan but it so happened that the Ishmaelites gained control of Joseph. “Potiphar” means ‘devoted to the sun god.’ This is the title for a man who is very high in the nobility in the empire of Egypt. The word officer means a nobleman.

“an Egyptian” – this means that he came from an old line of Egyptian nobility.

Verse 2 – “And the Lord was with Joseph.” Even though he is suffering and has gone through all of these difficulties the Lord is faithful.

“and he was a prosperous man.” The Hebrew here says, “he [the Lord] caused him to be prosperous.” In other words, when Joseph came in as a slave immediately it became obvious to Potiphar that he had a gold mine in this man, he was a genius in the field of administration. Notice that he isn’t wearing his “coat of many colours” which was the badge of his authority. His badge has been taken from him but it is the same person. Even though he is stripped of his authority of ruling the flocks of Jacob, and even though a slave was made out of him, his character could not be taken away. Here is something about a stable person. You can take a person who has a stable character, a person who is stable in his mental attitude, stable in his motivation, stable in his behaviour pattern, he is till a great leader, administrative genius, a wonderful person. It comes out very shortly with Joseph and very shortly he is running the estate in Egypt. The Lord was with him, and the other part was his response to the Lord.

Verse 4 – “And Joseph found grace in his sight” is an idiom which means he promoted him. Joseph has a change of circumstances, but here is a man who has discovered something: your circumstances are not longer your master. Your circumstances are at one time good. They may be at another time bad, but this doesn’t make any difference because you have inner resources.

Verse 5 – Joseph’s promotion results in prosperity to Potiphar. There is a principle of prosperity: association with people who are honouring to the Lord brings prosperity.

Verse 6 – “And Joseph was a goodly person.” Bad translation. The Hebrew says literally, “Joseph had a beautiful body and a handsome face.” Notice here that Potiphar left everything in Joseph’s hands. Joseph was seventeen when he came to Potiphar. He served Potiphar for nine years. When Potiphar finally puts Joseph in prison he is twenty-seven. At twenty-eight Joseph interprets the dream of the other two noblemen, the chief butler and the chief baker, and at thirty he is the leading man in the world.

Verse 7 – Joseph’s extreme physical beauty caught the eye of Potiphar’s wife.

“cast her eyes upon Joseph” doesn’t mean that she was winking at him, it is simply an idiom which means she began to make advances. Finally, she went from a pass to a proposition. This doesn’t say “lie with me,” it says “cohabit with me.”

“But he refused … Behold, my master knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath trusted all that he hath to my hand; there is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

He not only refused but he is occupied with the Lord—“sin against God.” The Lord was first.

Verse 10 – she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Verse 12 – “…and fled, and got out.” This is all to establish the point that Joseph is innocent. Yet she is going to frame him, but the frame should never have worked.

The woman claimed that her cries had frightened Joseph away, but no one ever heard her cry out. Furthermore, if her story had been true what would Joseph had done? He would still be running! But all he did was run out of the house and go to his quarters. Potiphar could have been a great man and gone all the way with Joseph and been second in the land, but he didn’t because he only listened to one side.

Verse 19 – Potiphar’s poor judgment. What has he heard? The words of his wife.

“that his wrath was kindled.” No interrogation of Joseph. Principle: You never solve anything by losing your temper, but losing one’s temper is only a part of emotionalism. Emotionalism never solves anything in life.

Verse 21 – “But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Joseph is dumped into a dungeon but the Lord is faithful.

Verse 22 – every time Joseph gets dumped somewhere it starts at the bottom and in a few days he is at the top. Joseph is occupied with Christ, he has his eyes on the Lord. He is just the same relaxed person because inside he has it: inner resources.

Verse 23 – the keeper of the prison was on holiday! Because—“the Lord was with him [Joseph], and that which he did, the Lord made to prosper.”