City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. ² The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. ⁴ So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. ⁵ From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. ⁶ So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. ⁷ And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” ⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. ⁹ He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” ¹⁰ And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

Genesis 39:1-10

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

Genesis 3:1 ESV

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
    and him only shall you serve.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew 4:1, 10-11

Reflection

We are picking back up with Joseph after he was resold by the Ishmaelites to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard. In Egypt, rather than being the favored son, he was a slave. I wonder how often he recalled the dreams God gave him and the gulf between those dreams and his enslavement?

Still, “[t]he Lord was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:2). There was no way Joseph could have foreseen in detail how the events of his years in slavery would turn out for his good but God enabled him to be faithful. Joseph would have had to learn a new language and new customs to have served well in his master’s house. The results of God’s favor in his life caught the attention of Potiphar, his pagan master, who promoted him to overseer of his house.

Just when it seemed like Joseph’s life had reached a pinnacle as overseer in Potiphar’s house, the enemy struck. We learn in Genesis 39:6 that “Joseph was handsome in form and appearance” aka Joseph was fine and Mrs. Potiphar’s lust went into overdrive, pressuring him to sleep with her – talk about a hostile work environment. Remember that even though Joseph was in charge of his master’s affairs, he was still a slave. The power dynamics from a human perspective were not in his favor but Joseph’s response to his master’s wife tells us that he knew who ultimately held true power:

How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?

Genesis 39:9

Make no mistake, Joseph was at war against the powers of darkness determined to destroy him and to end God’s work in his life but his Spirit empowered response was:

…he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

Genesis 39:10

He did not listen to the enemy, choosing rather to listen to God.

Application

The Bible makes it very clear earlier in the Genesis narrative that there is one who opposes God (Genesis 3) and this being, called the devil or the satan (Hebrew: ha satan, meaning the adversary), only seeks to “steal, kill, and destroy” what God has created as good (John 10:10).

Humanity from the beginning chose to listen to this enemy rather than God’s voice and brought sin, violence, destruction, and death to God’s good world but God promised that His Messiah (Anointed One) would one day crush the enemy.

Jesus came as God’s promised Messiah and as a better Joseph, completely and perfectly listening to His Father’s voice. Like Joseph and us, Jesus was tempted, yet He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus’ obedience to God led Him to live and die for and as us, defeating the satan and ending his reign of darkness. His resurrected life is now our only hope for release from the life in bondage to sin.

We also will be tempted and James, the brother of Jesus, makes it very clear that we are in a battle – there is no middle ground. We are either listening to God or the enemy; the only path to victory is submitting to God’s voice and resisting the enemy by the power of the Holy Spirit.

⁴ …Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:4-7 ESV

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the many times I have refused to listen to Your voice and broken Your heart. Forgive me because of Jesus, Your Son, who You graciously gave to die for and as me, to take away my sin. Thank You for Your deep mercy and for Your power that is at work in me because of Your Holy Spirit. Please help me to stay submitted to You and to resist the enemy when I am tempted, in Jesus’ name, amen.