Genesis 39:6-18
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” 8 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. 9 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?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 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. 13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 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. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
There is another fascinating element to this story, beyond Joseph avoiding temptation. Recall the story of Abraham. In this story, Abraham is told by God that he will become a great nation and have many descendants and the whole world would be blessed through him. Yet he is childless. So he and Sarah decide to take matters into their own hands through a surrogate mother, Hagar, Sarah's servant. This doesn't end well as Sarah eventually has a child, Isaac. He is the child to carry on the line of Abraham and fulfill the covenant promise of God but his firstborn through Hagar, Ishmael, is jealous and makes life difficult for Isaac. Sarah treats Hagar so harshly that she runs away until the angel of the LORD meets her and tells her to go back. It's a tragic story rooted in Abraham and Sarah's mistake of not waiting on God and taking matters into their own hands to bring about God's promise. (Gen. 15-16)
Joseph here would have been tempted to follow a similar trajectory. Joseph knows he is destined to lead based on the dreams he had. Now in Potiphar's house he has a taste of leadership and authority. Everything Potiphar owns is entrusted to Joseph. Potiphar has withheld nothing from him except his wife. Joseph could have easily viewed this as his opportunity to gain power and take matters into his own hands. He could have plotted to sleep with his wife, kill Potiphar and take over control of the household, thus fulfilling the dreams given him by God. But, where Abraham failed, Joseph succeeds. He refuses to take matters into his own hands and violate God's law even in an effort to fulfill God's promise. The ends do not justify the means. Would God require him to sin against Potiphar and God himself to achieve his purpose? The answer is obviously no. Joseph recognizes this and has the maturity to resist the temptation to achieve power on his own, even power that has been promised him by God. Instead he continues to act in integrity and wait on the LORD.
The story of Jacob deceiving his father and stealing his brother's blessing could be used here as well to illustrate that this seems to be a generational sin. Jacob also has shown to have little regard for doing the right thing in regards to the women in his life. All of this in play makes Joseph's determination to resist temptation here all the more admirable. He has overcome generational sin patterns which is never easy.
Reflection
- Take a moment to reflect on some of the generational sin patterns you see in your family of origin. How have you faired on those issues?
- Have you ever felt God calling you to something and been tempted to take matters into your own hands?