Does faithful obedience to God somehow ensure we will lead a trouble-free life? That's not what the Bible teaches. Today, on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg looks at an example from Joseph's story found in the book of Genesis. We have only gone into this to the extent of two chapters, but already we have seen that God's servant Joseph has had a very varied and checkered existence. He had previously been chucked in a cistern by his brothers, and now he has been dumped in a dungeon by his boss.
He had previously had the run of the house, and now he is being run out of the house. The one who was in charge is now being charged with the most awful crime. And as verse 20 tells us, as a result of the response of his boss, he was thrown into this dreadful and sunless hole. He refers to it himself in verse 15 of chapter 40 as a dungeon. The psalmist in Psalm 105 and in verse 18.
makes reference to Joseph's circumstances. Speaking of the work of God, he says of God, he called down famine on the land, destroyed all their supplies of food, and he sent a man before them. Joseph sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true. And so the picture of Joseph now at the end of 39 is particularly changed from the beginning of 39.
And we should imagine him. Uh uh enslaved In irons, both around his neck, resisting the ability to be able to lift up his head and gaze, and at the same time shackled in his feet. If you pay careful attention to the chapter, if you've observed it with care, you will note that there is a symmetry about this chapter insofar as the opening verses and the closing verses describe the same sort of scene, albeit in two locations. When we studied the opening verses, we noted that Joseph was protected, and then he was prospered, and then he was promoted, and then we found him propositioned. I don't expect you to remember the outline.
But that's what we said. That the circumstances were such that he found himself moving through that progression. What I want to do is to go through the concluding verses by looking at each of the characters in turn. each of the characters in turn. And there are, if you like, five Personalities that are before us in these concluding verses of chapter 39.
First of all, let us consider these events as they unfold through the eyes of Potiphar's wife. Potiverse wife. Had there been society pages in Egypt, At that time, I have little doubt that she would have appeared regularly in them. Indeed, I think she would have been delighted to find herself in them and probably would have grabbed the magazine as soon as it arrived to see whether she was on the page as usual. Get the newspaper on a Thursday to see if that special insert section was there, which would tell her where she'd been and what she'd been doing, what she was wearing.
She may even have been, in her position of responsibility, the recipient of the Best Dressed Woman in Egypt Award. She had that kind of profile. Of course, she may have been the recipient of the worst dressed woman in Egypt. We don't know how she dressed. I have a sneaking suspicion that she was the recipient of the least dressed woman in Egypt in the light of what we find before us here.
She certainly had prestige. She was in a position of influence. She was, in Egyptian culture, one of the beautiful people, and yet her life was an absolute shambles. It was a shambles. And we know that simply by reading the Bible.
We don't have to read into it, we simply need to observe what the text says. And what it says to us is this, that she is like many people in contemporary culture, on the outside, apparently got it all nicely put together. Nails done, hair done. The heels of her shoes never had that horrible chip bit on the back of them. Never, never.
She always put together properly if you saw her in the mall. And you would have assumed, meh. Has she Got it together. But she didn't. She was a walking disaster zone.
And her life was was in chaos. She was surrounded by many gods with a small g, but she didn't know God. She didn't know this God of Joseph for sure. She was, in the words of Solomon, passing through her days like a shadow. She was the kind of lady who was tempted to believe that a fine perfume was more significant, more prestigious than a fine name.
She had wealth, possessions, she had honor. But she lacked the ability. to enjoy them. She doubtless would have been happy to concur with a statement of Sophia Lorraine some time ago, where she said, In my life there is an emptiness. It is impossible for me to fill.
For this Potiphar's wife Despite all the superficial Indications of who and what she was. was a lady with some real deep-seated issues. Far more than perhaps we're able to observe, but at least these facts. Or true. Number one.
She had an adulterous heart. She had an adulterous heart. She lived with lust. She had allowed lust to become her friend. She had allowed it to begin in her mind.
She had processed it to her lips. She had transferred it to her hands. And she was on the prowl. It would be surprising if this was her only foray beyond the marriage bed in relationship to the opposite sex. It is more than likely that she was simply doing what came naturally to her.
Secondly, She couldn't bear to have her evil desires unfulfilled. She was used to getting what she wanted. And she couldn't stand it when she didn't get what she wanted. Indeed, she was prepared to go to almost any lengths to try and get what she desired, and her failure to do so absolutely compelled her to the worst of action. Thirdly, She was an able liar.
She had made lies her refuge. As soon as the events that we considered last time unfolded against her, then she resorted to telling lies. And she lied about the circumstances, she lied about the servant, she was lying about Joseph, and she was lying straight into the gaze of her husband. That's a dangerous woman. A woman who can take her husband's gaze Look right down.
the avenue of his eyes and lie through her teeth. Yeah. It's somebody you better learn not to pay much attention to. Fourthly, She's capable. of murderous hatred.
She was capable of murderous hatred. How do you say that?
Well, because her lies were to induce a circumstance where Joseph would lose his head, because the crime was punishable by death. And so her perspective was really straightforward. If I can't have him, no one's getting him. And I'll make sure nobody else gets him. Because I'll ensure that he gets his head chopped off.
And fifthly, She was skilful, I suggest to you, in manipulating her husband's mind. She was a manipulator. We noted that just in passing. Let me show it to you again in verse 17. Then she told him this story.
that Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me.
Now what are the three manipulative words in that phrase? You put a brackets around them. You brought us. You see, that's the insinuation. She doesn't say the Hebrew slave tried to make sport of me.
That would have been one thing. That's a flat out lie. But she says the Hebrew slave You brought us. See The problem, Potiphar, is your problem. If you hadn't bought this slave, then this wouldn't have happened to me.
Same thing in verse 19. When his master heard the story, his wife told him, saying, This is how your slave treated me. See, as long as everything was hunky-dory, she was fine. As long as she was living with the prospect of fulfillment, it was okay. Because, after all, Joseph had been like no other slave, he was the best of slaves.
He was such a fabulous slave, as we saw in the story, that Potiphar had given everything into his care, everything except what he ate for his dinner and his wife. And everything was prospering under Joseph's. Jurisdiction. Within the home, his portfolio, the work of agriculture in the fields, everything he touched. was just transformed.
And now says Potter's wife. But you're a slave. Hell has no fury. like a woman. Scorned.
That's Potiphar's wife. What about Potiphar? What do you think of Potiphar here? Interesting character. What do you think of when you think of Potiphar?
I mean, he was obviously masterful of delegation. He was a fairly shrewd judge of character. He had had many, many people under his control for all of his life, it would seem. He was able to pick a good slave from a bad slave. He was able to determine that this fellow, Joseph, had something about him.
And it is hardly surprising that having entrusted everything to the care of this Hebrew lad. He would react in anger at the thought of his wife's purity having been compromised. Any man worth his salt must react in this way. Even the very idea of it is abhorrent to a man. that somehow or another his wife's Purity and morality would have been compromised by someone who was around the house, and particularly somebody that they had determined should be around the house and was given freedom and trust within the home.
And so his jealousy is an understandable jealousy. There is a rightness about that sort of protection. And we would expect him to display it.
However, One of the striking things as you read this, and it must come to mind. Apart from Trying to think about processing the information like Well, I wonder why Joseph left his, you know, cloak there. Because My wife's not physically stronger than Joseph. Joseph's too smart to realize that he would leave incriminating evidence behind, so, why didn't he grab? My wife Throw her on the couch, grab his trousers, and then split.
You know, there's too many things here that don't add up when you start to think about it. I mean, it's not a really good story on his wife's part, but he's buying it. And he is not processing the information. He is not setting his wife's accusations against the backdrop of Joseph's record of faithful integrity. Why doesn't he stop and say, now, wait a minute, I know I'm angry, but.
I think there are two reasons. Number one, He allowed his anger to run away with his judgment. Once he allowed himself to be overtaken by rage, and you'll notice the phrase there at the end of verse 19, he burned with anger. It's not that he was a little concerned, but he was immediately enraged and he was inflamed, and he went from normal body temperature to absolutely boiling, you know. He was flaming.
And as soon as he became overtaken with anger, he was incapable of hearing either truth or reason. Note this as a principle, dear ones. If you or I choose to make decisions while angry, We will the majority of the time make bad decisions. If you listen to the Bible preached with an angry heart, you will not hear the Bible. You will hear a man talking, but you will not hear the word of God to your spirit.
And that's why people can sit under the ministry of the Word of God, and it's like water falling on a stone. Nothing apparently happens because they do not combine the Word of God with faith. And the reason they don't combine it with faith is because they sit with an angry heart, whatever the source of the anger might be. And anger will always blind the mind. Indeed, there is probably nothing more effective in doing so than unchecked anger.
That's why James, the brother of Jesus in 119, says that the anger of man is never the means of achieving God's true Goodness. And Potiphar formed his judgment of Joseph, or if you like, reformed his judgment of Joseph. And the events while he was enraged and it was a bad move. And it always is. That's why when you feel that coming on.
When we feel that coming on, you better to Have somebody just grab you and throw you out of the window. Before you open your mouth and sin your soul. Before you open your mouth and make a fool of yourself. Better go walk around the building five times and get soaked to the skin. Then immediately allow rage to close you down to reason and to truth and to speak.
Out of venom. That's the first reason I believe he did what he did. Secondly, Because he allowed himself to be unduly influenced by his wife. I didn't say that he allowed himself to be influenced by his wife, but he allowed himself to be unduly influenced by his wife. Every man is influenced by his wife.
Narcissophili. Indeed, to a great extent. Gratefully. But we are not to be unduly influenced by our wives. To the man falls the responsibility of leadership.
To the man falls the headship of the home. To the man is given the armband for the captain on the team. Not to his wife. And when a man is unduly influenced by his wife, especially in moments of decision-making, Especially if his judgment were to be clouded by anger, then not only does he live in a perilous predicament, but he puts everybody else with whom he is engaged in a perilous predicament with him.
Now you see, Potiphar's wife clearly had a pretty good tongue in her head. She may have had a better tongue in her head than Potiphar himself. She may over time have become adept at intimidating her husband. These little phrases point me in this direction. This Hebrew slave that you brought us.
Hey. I told you not to get in. No, she didn't, but I told you, and so she goes, And eventually he said, Ah, forget it. I'll just go and throw him in the dungeon. That's what we've got.
Fine. Many an apparently powerful leader is led around by his nose when he goes home. It is intriguing to me. to to find guys coming up with brilliant ideas Five days after I just met him, or five hours after I just met him. Contrary ideas.
Redirecting ideas. And in 43 years of life and 21 years of pastoral ministry, I have discovered that many guys are unduly influenced by their wives. Unduly. And that's why, in churches, you have women run churches. The men are in leadership, they're puppets.
For they are unduly influenced by their wives. And so part of her? Allowing rage to influence his decision-making and being unduly influenced by his wife confines this young man, Joseph, to the place where the king's prisoners. where normally put. He conducted no investigation.
He allowed for no defense. Just swiftly dealing a dreadful blow. to the life Of Joe's. And then he went off. to his bed.
I can imagine the conversation in their bedroom, but we'll let that pass. Thirdly, let us look at the events in light of Joseph himself. What about Joseph? Where is he?
Well, his rear end has just hit the dirt again. He's uh One minute he's flying high, the next minute he's bottomed out. I mean, he's got only kind of like two speeds, you know, at full speed ahead and dead stop. There's very little in between. He's the object of his father's love, he's the object of his brother's hatred.
One minute he's up, the next minute he's rock bottom. Then the sun comes out and he's beautiful, next minute he's down again. And right now he's down. And as they took him and put him in these horrible chains, and as they fastened the irons around his neck. Can you imagine, I mean, let's be honest, what would have been going through your mind?
At least the fleeting notion must have been there in Joseph's mind. Goodness gracious. If this is what you get for doing it right, what the world would happen if you did it wrong? This is the reward for integrity. This is what I get from not sleeping with her.
What would have happened if I slept with her, for goodness sake? And then he'd be saying, maybe I should have done. Maybe I missed the point. And all of these things tumbling round in his mind, causing him to consider his actions and his reactions. And yet, I say to you, that only a fleeting notion in Joseph's case.
The reason being that Joseph somehow knew better. He had made his response, remember, to Potiphar's wife, not on the basis of pragmatism, but on the strength of principle. He had done so on the basis of rightness. It wasn't that he said, you know, I don't think this is going to work, or I don't think this will be best, or maybe we'll be found out, or maybe it'll cause this, or that, or the next thing. All sort of humanistic thinking in religion.
No, no, no, he says, how could I do such a dreadful thing and sin against God? You see, that is the thing that will keep us on the narrow way. Bridges says, the narrow way was never hit upon by chance, neither did a heedless man ever live a holy life. And what keeps a man or a woman on the narrow way is not pragmatism. It is principle.
It is rightness. It is duty. It is the forming of decisions In the secret place and in the quiet place, and without all the fanfare of life going on, in order that when all hell breaks loose against us, we will know how we're going to respond. And Joseph had said, If this comes my way, this is what I will do, and whatever happens, so be it. And now it had happened, and he was in the dungeon.
He was the subject of the accusations of his family, which were flat out untrue. He was the subject of the accusations of Potiphar's wife, which were untrue. He was the product of undeserved hatred on the part of his brothers, and now on the part of Potiphar's wife. The bottom had dropped out of his world. Those dreams that he'd had as a boy prior to the receiving of the coat seemed like pipe dreams now.
How in the world is anyone ever going to bow down before him? What were those sheaves? What about the stars and everything? Goodness me, he must have said as he fastened into this weary, horrible, unclean pig sty of a dungeon. And yet look at it.
Somehow he remains. Patient. Enduring. At the beginning of the chapter, He's enslaved within the house. And he's a man of principle.
At the end of the chapter, he's enslaved in the dungeon. and he's a man of principle. Whether he's a governor or a prisoner. He's the same guy. He's not a chameleon.
He's not playing it one way up here or another way down here. He's core right through to the core, Joseph. Straight on. You're listening to a message titled Attitude is Everything on Truth for Life with Alastair Begg. We'll hear the conclusion to morrow.
If you enjoy studying the Bible with Truth for Life, you'll want to get a copy of the book we're recommending today. It's a brand new study guide from Alistair that leads you verse by verse through the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. And if you're not familiar with Ecclesiastes, the writer of this ancient book shares his experience of searching for meaning and contentment in worldly riches and accomplishments, only to discover that satisfaction in such pursuits is fleeting, elusive, even futile. The book of Ecclesiastes speaks directly to today's self gratifying culture. Over twelve lessons Alastair walks us through the Biblical text.
when you use the study guide along with your Bible, you will think more carefully, more deeply, about what the writer of Ecclesiastes learned, and how his discoveries apply to your life to day. With each lesson you'll enjoy insights from Alastair as well as thought provoking questions to encourage you to reflect on the only place where meaning, contentment, and hope can be found. Request the study guide entitled Ecclesiastes: Chasing the Wind. When you donate to Truth for Life today, you can give online at truthforlife.org/slash donate or call us at 888-588-7884. I'm Bob Lepine.
Thanks for listening. How do we persevere when we find ourselves, as Joseph did, in the pit once again? Tomorrow we'll find out what made the difference for Joseph and what can make the difference in our circumstances as well. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Yeah.
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