No one is immune to temptation. every day our eyes, our ears, and our minds are bombarded with enticements.
So do you feed it or do you fight it? Today on Truth for Life will examine the timeless and universal draw of sexual temptation. Alastair Begg walks us through one man's response to a sly and powerful temptress. Um Well, Genesis chapter thirty-nine, we continue our series in the life of Joseph. And we're dealing this morning with this whole matter of temptation.
Temptation is an enticement to evil or to sin. Temptation in and of itself is something that is known to everyone, known even to the Lord Jesus Himself. And temptation in and of itself is not sin. It is our response to temptation which leads us either in the paths of righteousness or down into the meadows of our disobedience. And this morning, as we look again at the life of Joseph, we have probably the classic illustration in the whole of the Old Testament as to how to deal particularly with the matter of temptation as it expresses itself in this issue of morality and interpersonal relationships and particularly the whole issue of sexuality.
Now, I have four points before me in my outline this morning, and I want to work through them with you. The first is almost a passing issue, but I do want simply to address it. First of all, I'd like you to notice how verse 6 concludes with one sentence.
Now Joseph was well built and handsome. Notice, first of all, would you, the peculiar challenges of beauty. and charm. the peculiar challenges of beauty and charm. Joseph was always someone's favorite.
Even in the few years that have elapsed, in the few chapters we've considered, we found that he was the favorite of his father. Then we discover him in this section to be the favorite of Potiphar. And now all of a sudden he's become the favourite of Potiphar's wife. What is it that makes an individual that kind of person?
Well, there are many factors that contribute to it, it would seem. But on a superficial level, one of those is just physical characteristics. And in the context of Egypt, it was apparently no different from the context of Cleveland. There was a special door of opportunity which swung open for the beautiful people. And Joseph was a beautiful person.
That's what it says. He was well built and he was handsome. And that is something which many of us would love to be able to enjoy. and would love to be able to experience. I can remember coming here, as I've told some of you before, as a 20-year-old in 1972 and being confronted by all these young American men.
Who all had haircuts like Royal Marines and who had bodies that looked as though they had lived in a weight room since the age of one and a half. I was about 147 pounds, totally dripping wet. with hair that swung all down my back, and I can remember feeling distinctly unbeautiful. and imagining what it would be like to be one of these handsome guys. And to be marked by these characteristics.
Some of you maybe feel the same way. Even this week, you stood at the grocery store and you looked at the magazines, and the magazines were full of the beautiful people. And you said to yourself, I wonder what it would be like to be one of them. to wear the right dress all the time. To have my hair the right way all the time.
To brush my teeth with the right stuff, to squirt behind my ears the right perfume, and simply just to be the identicate package of beauty and of charm. Wouldn't that be absolutely wonderful? And our culture suggests that it would be so. And many a person is driven by that.
Well, what we discover in human history and in the biblical record is this: that to be handsome and beautiful may and does open many doors of opportunity. But in swinging wide and welcome, we better beware because many of them will close us down into the most perilous of places. Lovely features. May prove to be a snare both to the person who has them. and to the person who looks at them.
And so the idea of being that kind of person as the part of the dream. Is a dangerous idea and leads to dangerous conclusions. 18th century Scottish commentator puts it like this: Dost thou want beauty? Be content and thankful. that you are free from the snares which often attend it.
The peculiar challenges of beauty and charm. This story would not be in the Bible were it not for the fact of the second part of verse 6, Joseph was well built and handsome. The story of misses Robinson, Ala Dustin Hoffman, In the graduate, Was there in Genesis 39 and has continued throughout the whole of human history. Just a little secret. Just the Robinsons affair.
Secondly, I want us to notice the particular elements in this strong temptation. The peculiar challenges of beauty and charm is almost in passing.
Now we get to the heart of the matter. Look at the particular elements in this strong temptation.
Now, for those of you who are taking notes this morning, I'll try and be as clear as I can, because if you're not careful, you will be dreadfully lost very quickly. You say, well, why would that be different from any other Sunday? All right, sorry.
Sorry, I thought maybe I could have hoped for better. But anyway, I will try and be as clear as I can. The particular elements in this strong temptation. I have four of them to mention to you. Number one, or A, depending on how you like to do it.
The approach was subtle. The approach was subtle. Oh no, says somebody. If you look at the text, it would appear that the approach was Startling.
Well, it was startling, but that's essentially the second point. Let's do the first one before we get to the second one. Notice the phrase in verse 7: after a while, his master's wife took notice of Joseph.
Now what does that mean? She said, oh, there's Joseph. And oh Oh, there's Joseph again. No, the King James Version does us justice. This is what it says in the King James Version.
After a while, she cast her. her eyes upon Joseph. There came a point someday, however soon in the event, when she began to notice Joseph. in a different way. Initially, uh Potiphar got a new slave.
Initially, there was another fellow in the midst of all the slaves in the house. But suddenly, one day along the journey, she looked at him and then she looked back the second time, and now she started to cast her eyes upon Joseph. When a girl starts to cast her eyes upon a guy, the guy knows. Incidentally, it works both ways, but the story is about a lady and a guy, so I'm just sticking with the text.
Okay, the same is true when a man shakes your hand and holds your gaze for that subtle split second longer than is just normal in a greeting. And she cast her eyes upon Joseph. She began in her mind to look at him differently. In a way that does not become someone who wants to walk the straight and narrow, wants to live in purity, wants to maintain the family bed in order. Loved ones this morning, let us notice and notice clearly.
that the eyes are the gateway into our souls. The eyes are the path through which many affections come. And the subtlety of her beginning. Is directly related. to what she did.
With her eyes. We used to say in Scotland, maybe you did here: oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see. Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see. Because your father's up above and he's looking down in love, so be careful, little eyes, what you see. Settle.
Secondly, the approach was striking. It was as striking as it was subtle. Her eyes ensnared her heart. And as a result of that, she completely lost any notion of modesty at all. Did this woman have no shame?
Could she proceed to such a barefaced invitation to adultery? How could it ever happen? How is it that it does happen? Where do such propositions In the urge front. The answer is that in Potiphar's wife, she was clearly feeding lust at the level of her imagination.
And when we feed lust at the level of our imagination or feed desire at the level of our imagination, we take forward the possibility that we may actually suddenly do what we've been thinking about. For example, Uh You imagine yourself behind the wheel of a certain kind of automobile. And the advertisements come across with such appeal. You see yourself rather than the actor driving off into the sunset. You see yourself coming round the curve, making that big turn.
And you've already got yourself in your mind's eye behind the wheel. And suddenly you're behind the wheel. And suddenly you're behind in your payments. And suddenly you're absolutely behind.
Now, where did it all start? It all started here in your imaginations. That's what was happening here. with this lady. First, she's subtle as she casts her eyes.
Then she's striking as she makes her approach. Because when lust is fed at the level of imagination, it is always ready to break forth. In an instant, Driven by almost blind and furious and almost irrepressible urges. Because we've already gone down the road so far that all we need is the occasion, and once the occasion arises, we're there. And that, you see, was what had happened.
to this lady.
So, the approach was subtle. Secondly, the approach was striking. Thirdly, the approach was sustained. It was sustained. It would appear from verse Eight and nine that Joseph's refusal only serve to make him more desirable.
And as we see in verse 10, She bugged Joseph day after day.
Now what did she say to him when she came along? I don't know. But I can imagine. Because she had expressed herself very clearly. Joseph was in no doubt as to the proposition.
The subtlety of her eyes had given way to the stridency of her approach, and now she gets him day after day. She made occasion to be in his company. She made sure that she was there as he came around the corner, and she would have begun to feed him the standard lines. Hey Joseph. You've been thinking about me?
Joseph Who's to know? Joseph. God doesn't want you To live like this? Joseph. Just once.
I'll never Mention it? No one will know. And I'll never bug you again.
Now the striking thing about this is that Joseph. In his response to this woman, as we will see, was equally clear. But the lady is neither corrected by time. nor is she restrained by his refusals.
Now, what does this tell you? It tells you something about the nature. Of allowing oneself to be held in the grip of vain and lustful imagination. It is the trap into which people fall concerning pornographic literature. It is the same ensnarement.
Because they allow themselves to be sucked down into the vortex. And they live then in that slimy pit. And every occasion becomes an occasion. For the fulfillment of that, at least in their imaginings, and time won't fix it. And the strident concerns of others can't cure it.
And we become enslaved. She was. She clearly was. And her approach, fourthly, was strategic. It was subtle, it was striking, it was sustained, and it was strategic.
Verse 11: One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. Bingo. Perfect opportunity. Did she create it? There's no one to say.
We don't want to make her worse than she actually is. But she sure would have been glad of the opportunity because, after all, she knew his concerns and his scruples, and she perhaps figured to herself, as long as nobody sees, maybe I can get him, you know, as long as no one sees. Isn't it interesting when we sin? That we think as long as You know Our friends don't see, or our parents don't see, or our brother doesn't see, or whoever it is doesn't see, that we're okay. That's not the issue.
God sees. God sees. And if the man's concern was only whether anyone would know, if he could be succored on account of that, if secrecy was enough to spill for him his convictions, then in this strategic approach she would have him. But she was to discover that he couldn't, that he wouldn't. And she comes and she grabs him.
She caught him by his cloak. And she surely didn't just sort of grab him, you know, like... Like a a butcher grabbing a a hunk of ham. She didn't know. Go hey, Joe, hey, how you doing?
Uh uh uh The subtleties of a seductress. are far more keenly honed than that. She came at him. in the way that was most desirable. And she laid hold of him.
in the way that was absolutely compelling. And if he had managed to this point to stay at arm's length from the woman, he no longer was now.
Now he's within the orb of her perfume.
Now he can see her exactly as she is, and she has gone down the road from her eyes to her feet to her hands. First it through her eyes she imagines what may happen, then with her feet she puts herself in the position where it's opportunity, and then with her hands she expresses her longings. Just in case we never get to it, put it away in your back of your mind what Jesus said about your eyes and your feet and your hands. If your eye offends you, what did he say to do? Buck it out.
If your hand offends you, chop it off. If your feet offend you, remove them. And failure to address the issue in this way leads such an individual. further down the path.
Okay, so we're noticing the particular elements in this strong temptation. The approach was subtle, the approach was striking, the approach was sustained, and the approach was strategic.
Now notice Thirdly, the powerful example of Joseph's resistance. And this time I have five sub-points. What about Joseph's resistance?
Well, number one, it was decisive. Three words with which verse eight begins, but he refused. She was very clear about her reproach. He was very clear about his response. And we're going to have to be if we are ever going to be this decisive in dealing with temptation.
We'll have to wait until heaven to find out how accurate this assertion is, but I do firmly believe that Joseph had already settled the issue in his mind. There was a measure of premeditation on Joseph's part. He had said to himself, Now, look, I'm in Egypt. I'm a long way from my home. I don't have my father calling me.
I don't have my mother to go home to. I have none of my brothers and sisters around.
So, what is it going to be like here? What will the challenges be? And archaeological evidence shows us that Egyptian women were a byword for lewdness and for immorality.
So, Joseph, now he's in Egypt. For another guy, it's like hey Spring break. Spring break forever. Fort Lauderdale, everywhere. The whole package rolled into one.
He looks back and says, you know, I was in the pit, but I'm not in the pit anymore. This is all right here. And you know what? Since I've been doing those weights and everything, I g I can see the way they're looking at me. But no, no, no, no, no, no.
He must have in his mind settled the matter.
Now, if this ever comes my way, what am I going to say? And the answer is: I'm going to say no. And let me tell you something about temptation. That is the only way to deal with temptation. As it is in our minds that we sow the seeds for our demise, so it is that by guarding our minds we sow the seeds and plant, if you like, the fruit of our ability to say no.
You cannot make it in the heat of the moment. The only way to To deal with it is to plan for it in the cold light of dawn. And Joseph was absolutely decisive in his refusal. Secondly, he was principled. in his response.
Verse 8 and 9. Look at his explanation there. Just allow your eyes to gaze over eight and nine. He says, I'm in charge of everything. My master doesn't deal with anything in the house anymore.
The only thing he cares about is his food. And he's kept nothing back from me except you, because you are his wife. In other words, he says there is a rightness about that, and I understand it.
Now, before we go on to his ace in the hole. Notice this. that a lesser individual, someone other than Joseph, might have employed the same circumstances as an occasion for sinning. In other words, the same circumstances present themselves to another person, and he looks at it and he says, Here's the deal. I'm in charge.
My master doesn't concern himself with anything in the house.
So far, so good. He's entrusted everything to my care. Beautiful. He holds nothing back from me except you. We'll come to that in a moment.
So. This is about as perfect as it gets. The circumstances are just moving me in that direction, the individual says. No, circumstances are neutral. Ultimately, It is our response to the circumstances.
And what he does is he introduces principle. This, he says, would not be right. You are his wife. And you must fulfill the obligations of being a wife. I am a single man, and I must never intrude upon the privileges of your marriage.
And notice how unashamed he is. In introducing the matter of right and wrong, verse nine. How unlike the nineties, eh? How then could I do such a wicked thing And sin against God. That was the kicker for it.
In other words, and notice this carefully. There is no More powerful force. in overcoming temptation than the fear of God. And somehow or another, Joseph had that fashioned into his life. And it made a difference.
He didn't come to the lady and say, you know, I don't want to do this, I'd be hurting you. I don't want to do this. I think it might get out. No, no, he says I'm not going to do this How could I do this? Such a wicked thing.
And sin against God. Um You're listening to Truth for Life with Alastair Begg. We'll hear more about resisting temptation tomorrow. The more we know about God and His Word, the easier it becomes to respond confidently to temptation as Joseph did. If you'd like to spend meaningful time in God's Word but don't know how to start, let me suggest a book we're recommending called The Quiet Time Kickstart: Six Weeks to a Healthy Bible Habit.
Now, today is the last day we're recommending this book. It's yours for a donation at truthforlife.org/slash donate.
Now, with the Christmas holidays squarely in the rearview mirror, it's time to start making plans for the new year. And if you've been thinking about a vacation, maybe you'd like to join Alistair on the Deeper Faith Cruise in September. This is a week-long cruise departing from Amsterdam that will take you through the beautiful landscape of Norway. Enjoy Christian fellowship and time in God's Word as Alistair teaches from the Bible throughout the voyage. You can learn more about the trip when you go to deeperfaithcruise.com.
Thanks for joining us today. How we respond to temptation will either lead us to corruption or or eternal life.
So how can we make sure we're making the right choices in the right way? We'll hear about that tomorrow. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
