A Lesson From Joseph

The Bible has an excellent example of proper behavior in the face of strong temptation.  I use this example as an encouragement to me and to you.  In Genesis chapter 39 we have an excellent example of how a man of God should behave in the face of temptation.  Joseph was sold by his brothers to Midianite merchants for 20 shekels of silver.  He subsequently ended up being taken to Egypt where he was eventually sold to Potiphar, who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

According to the Bible, The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.  We pick up the story in Genesis Chapter 39:

When his [Joseph's] master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.  From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.  So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.  (Genesis 39:3-6 NIV)

Imagine how great that situation was.  Here was Joseph, who had found favor with God, as a slave to Potiphar, the captain of the guard, bringing God's blessings on not only himself but the whole household of his master as well!  Because of Joseph, it can be argued that Potiphar was greatly blessed in all his endeavors along with his whole estate.  Wouldn't we all like to be looked on with such favor by God!  Actually many of us are, but perhaps don't really know it.  But Joseph's life is about to take a interesting turn because of the actions of another, and not a happy turn either!

Joseph was apparently a good looking guy, for we read that, "Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!" (Genesis 39:6b, 7)  Whoa there!  Potiphar's wife was taken with Joseph, and was trying to seduce him.  Now, without reading another word farther, it can be seen that this must put Joseph in a terrible situation.  If he agrees to the affair, his master would no doubt have justification to kill him if he finds out about the affair.  If he does not agree, he risks the wrath of the master's wife.  What does Joseph do?  He resists temptation and does the right thing.  

But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"  And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. (Genesis 39:8-10)

Joseph not only resisted the temptation, he tried to avoid the temptation in the first place by not even being with her.  Can you just picture in your mind's eye the flirtatious wife who is trying to seduce the young handsome man?  Can you see how he must hate that game of "cat and mouse?"  But through it all, Joseph does the right thing in God's eyes, even though he knows he may have to pay a price for not succumbing to the siren call of his master's wife.  Now Joseph probably knows that could perhaps make her mad enough and desirous of revenge against Joseph for not giving in to her demands.  We pick up the story at this point.

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside.  She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.  When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.   When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."  She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home.  Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me.  But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."  When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger.   Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison,  the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.  So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.  The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. (Genesis 39:11-23)

Ok, now we see that Joseph's refusal to succumb to the master's wife came with a high price.  His refusal to give in to temptation and sin actually led to him being thrown in prison after being "framed" by Potiphar's wife.  Joseph was going to do what was right no matter what the cost.  And he did, and there was a cost, namely prison.  But because he got favor with God, God granted Joseph favor and blessed even his prison experience--an experience that Joseph had not deserved because he had been falsely accused of a crime he did not commit.

The Lesson For Us

The lesson here is quite applicable to those struggling with homosexuality.  There will be temptation in our lives.  Being tempted is not a sin, because even Jesus Christ, while on the earth, was tempted by Satan.  Giving into that temptation, something that Jesus never did, is a sin.  Joseph could have said to himself, "Hey, God put me here, God put Potiphar's wife here, she is my master's wife and according to the organization line chart I report through her to Potiphar, so I had better do what she says or she will make my life miserable!"  Seems logical, doesn't it?  Except that is not what Joseph did or said.  What he did was obey God's laws to not sin and he did not give in to the temptations or invitations by Potiphar's wife to engage in sinful activities.

The big lesson here is that you and I will, like Joseph did, face temptation.  Some of that temptation may seem fruitful to succumb to in order to save our skins, or not be embarrassed by taking a stand to stand up for God's law, especially in a world gone crazy with political correctness gone wild.  But please know that giving in to any temptation that does not honor and glorify God is a sin, and all sin displeases God.  The good choice for us is to do what Joseph did, and obey God's law to keep ourselves pure and pleasing to God.  The bad choice is to give in to the temptation and let our base human instincts take over for us.

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