Great Moments in Bible History
Number 42
Making the Best of a Bad Situation
It is hard to imagine a more difficult transition than to go from being a free person to being a slave. That is what happened in the famous story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. After Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery our author left us hanging in suspense for a whole chapter, but in chapter 39 we finally get back to the main story. “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” (Genesis 39:1). We can imagine the shock and pain that Joseph must have experienced in his new situation. We can imagine him crying out in bitterness, “It’s not fair!” It would have been difficult not to have become bitter, but the story does not record any of that. In fact, by the end of the story (several chapters later) he will forgive his brothers for what they had done to him. You cannot do that if you are a bitter person.
What was Joseph’s secret that kept him from becoming bitter? It was his faith in God. God had promised to be with his father Jacob (Genesis 31:3) and God kept that promise not only in Jacob’s life but in the lives of his children. He certainly kept it for Joseph. “The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master” (Genesis 39:2). It is easy for us to miss the significance of what just happened. Instead of having to work out in the fields under the hot Egyptian sun like most of the slaves, Joseph was so successful that he was promoted to work in the house. But his success did not stop there. “His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 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.” Joseph, who was a teenager when this started, became top slave on Potiphar’s estate—all because God was with him. Of course, all of these promotions indicate that Joseph was not sitting around harboring grudges, but was busy doing whatever God gave him to do.
This does not mean that Joseph’s difficulties were over. As we will see in the next article, His faith in God will actually get him in worse trouble.
An Offer He Can’t Refuse?
“After a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, ‘Lie with me’” (verse 7). Most men in Joseph’s shoes would have accepted the invitation without a second thought. In the previous chapter, Judah (one of Joseph’s brothers) propositioned a woman he thought was a prostitute. It is obvious what he would have done in Joseph’s situation. But Joseph was not Judah. He gave the lady three reasons why he could not do what she asked. The last reason was the most important, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (verse 9). His faith in God prevented him from committing that sin.
Joseph’s answer may have sounded final, but Potiphar’s wife was not one to take No for an answer. She was used to getting her way. After all, she was the lady of the estate and Joseph was just a slave. So, she persisted. “And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.” Joseph was in a very difficult position. He did not want to sin against God, but he was a slave and the woman of the house was determined to have her way. “One day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.” Wow! Joseph really was serious about refusing to sin.
At that point, Potiphar’s wife finally got the message that she wasn’t going to be able to get Joseph to go to bed with her. Instead of respecting his moral faithfulness she chose to get revenge. She accused him to her husband of having tried to rape her. “As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, ‘This is the way your servant treated me,’ his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.”
What Potiphar did to Joseph is actually a big surprise. In that culture Joseph would have been executed for that crime even if he had been a free man. As a slave no one would have given a second thought about having him executed. So why didn’t Potiphar do that? I suspect there were two reasons. The first was that he may have known his wife well enough and have had enough respect for Joseph’s character that he wasn’t so sure Joseph had actually done what his wife accused him of. The second reason was that God was still with Joseph. God had plans for him and He was not going to allow a selfish, sinful woman to thwart those plans.
How Unfair Can Life Get?
From Bad to Worse
Earlier we suggested that it is hard to imagine a more difficult transition than to go from being a free person to being a slave. Well, how about going from chief slave in a rich household to being a prisoner? I would hate to be a prisoner even in a modern American prison, but an ancient Egyptian prison was far worse. Surely this second calamity on top of the first was enough to make anyone bitter. Apparently not. “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison” (Genesis 39:21).
“And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed” (verses 22-23).
Joseph simply kept on trusting in God and doing what God gave him to do, regardless of his circumstances.
Why Did God Treat Joseph So Badly?
In later chapters we will learn that God was planning to use Joseph to rescue his family from a terrible famine. In order to accomplish that, He will put Joseph in charge of all Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. I’m sure if God had asked Joseph, he would have been happy to accept the job! But why did God use such a round-about way to get Joseph installed into that job? He started out being his father’s favorite son. His life came crashing down when his brothers sold him into slavery. It is true that in that way he ended up in Egypt, which is where he needed to be for his future job. But why as a slave? And then, just when things were starting to look up for him, he ended up in prison. Why, God, why?
What we need to understand is that there are very few people who can handle the temptations of being such a powerful ruler. As second in command of the most powerful nation on earth, Joseph could do virtually whatever he chose. If someone ticked him off, he didn’t have to give that person a fair trial. He could simply have him executed on the spot. How likely is it that the spoiled favorite son of Jacob would have resisted the temptation to become a tyrant?
In putting Joseph through those painful experiences, God was training Joseph. Joseph was gradually becoming the kind of person whom it was safe for God to put in a position of power. After all, it would be tragic if God used Joseph to save his family, but he himself ended up lost in sin because he could not resist the temptations of power.
I’m sure you can see the applications in your own life. All of us go through difficult times and wonder why God is allowing those things to happen to us. The story of Joseph teaches us that God knows what He is doing. He sees the big picture. We do not. Our job is to live by faith in whatever situation He puts us.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible.