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by Sandy Shaw
God is processing Joseph’s way to leadership in Egypt and every stepping stone to get Joseph to become Prime Minister of Egypt appears most painful.
This fourth obstacle sees Joseph having his identity stolen – it is taken from him.
Genesis 37 verses 31to 35 – “Then the brothers took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. Then they took the robe back to their father and said, “We found this coat. Does it belong to your son?’ Jacob recognized it and cried out, “Yes! Some wild animal must have killed Joseph and torn him to pieces! Then Jacob sobbed for a long time. Everyone tried to comfort him, but he said, ‘I’ll grieve this loss until the day I die.’”
And then in Egypt, Joseph is forced to take a job he does not want as he goes from being a pampered son to being a slave in someone else’s home.
Genesis 37 verse 36 - “Meanwhile, in Egypt, the traders sold Joseph to be a slave of Potiphar, a man who was an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.”
Joseph did the best he could with what he had – he took every task as if doing it for GOD.
And then another blow – He was punished for doing the right thing – the problem comes from the boss’s wife.
“Now Joseph was well-built and very handsome. After a while his master’s wife took notice and began to lust for him. She begged, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But Joseph refused saying, ‘. . . How could I do such an evil thing and sin against God and my master?’ And though she tempted Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be alone with her. But one day, when Joseph was working inside the house, none of the household servants were inside. So Potiphar’s wife came up behind him and grabbed Joseph by his tunic demanding ‘Sleep with me right now!’ But Joseph resisted. He wriggled out of his tunic and ran outside.
When she saw that she still had his tunic in her hands, she made up this story for the other servants: ‘Look! The Hebrew slave tried to assault me, but I screamed, so he ran out of the house, but he left his tunic here!’ When her husband came home, she gave him the same story. Potiphar burned with anger when he heard his wife’s accusations. He arrested Joseph on the spot and dragged him off and threw him in the king’s prison.” Genesis 39 verses 6 to 19
Private and personal morality is important. But morality never remains private and many have discovered that today to their chagrin – the consequences of immorality can affect marriages – business – reputation and integrity – and some discover all this when it is too late.
She made up a story! And have we not found that the ‘cover story’ can be more serious than the truth of the incident!
Joseph is thrown into prison – his life has gone down – down – down.
Joseph has done nothing wrong – he has tried to serve his master faithfully.
Everyone of these setbacks was caused by other people.
There is another setback – Joseph was then forgotten by people he has helped – this too is a common experience.
Read again the story of Pharaoh’s Wine Steward & Baker – Genesis Chapter 40 verses 1to 23.
“Joseph said to the king’s wine steward, ‘When you are freed from prison and restored to your position with Pharaoh, please show me kindness and remember to mention me to the king so I too can get out of this prison. I was forcibly kidnapped from my homeland and now I’m stuck in this prison even though I’ve done nothing to deserve this . . . But the wine steward never gave Joseph another thought – he forgot all about him.” Genesis 40 verses 14to 15 and verse 23.
We can identify with some of these setbacks. What made Joseph so resilient? That will be our passage for later.
“Almighty God – these incidents in the experiences of Joseph have much to teach us. Help us dear Father, no matter when we might be going through in these present days – protect us – it is a dangerous world out there – it always has been – strengthen us. We cannot do much without you Jesus – and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Hear us and help us – we rely upon you more than we sometimes recognise and acknowledge. Deliver us from arrogance and pride as we humbly bow and kneel – and ask for help. Amen”
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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