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Genesis Chapter
Thirty-nine
Genesis 39
Chapter Contents
Joseph preferred by Potiphar. (1-6) Joseph resists
temptation. (7-12) Joseph is falsely accused by his mistress. (13-18) He is
cast into prison
God is with him there. (19-23)
Commentary on Genesis 39:1-6
Our enemies may strip us of outward distinctions and
ornaments; but wisdom and grace cannot be taken from us. They may separate us
from friends
relatives
and country; but they cannot take from us the presence
of the Lord. They may shut us from outward blessings
rob us of liberty
and
confine us in dungeons; but they cannot shut us out from communion with God
from the throne of grace
or take from us the blessings of salvation. Joseph
was blessed
wonderfully blessed
even in the house where he was a slave. God's
presence with us
makes all we do prosperous. Good men are the blessings of the
place where they live; good servants may be so
though mean and lightly
esteemed. The prosperity of the wicked is
one way or other
for the sake of
the godly. Here was a wicked family blessed for the sake of one good servant in
it.
Commentary on Genesis 39:7-12
Beauty either in men or women
often proves a snare both
to themselves and others. This forbids pride in it
and requires constant
watchfulness against the temptation that attends it. We have great need to make
a covenant with our eyes
lest the eyes infect the heart. When lust has got
power
decency
and reputation
and conscience
are all sacrificed. Potiphar's
wife showed that her heart was fully set to do evil. Satan
when he found he
could not overcome Joseph with the troubles and the frowns of the world
for in
them he still held fast his principle
assaulted him with pleasures
which have
ruined more than the former. But Joseph
by the grace of God
was enabled to
resist and overcome this temptation; and his escape was as great an instance of
the Divine power
as the deliverance of the three children out of the fiery
furnace. This sin was one which might most easily beset him. The tempter was
his mistress
one whose favour would help him forward; and it was at his utmost
peril if he slighted her
and made her his enemy. The time and place favoured
the temptation. To all this was added frequent
constant urging. The almighty
grace of God enabled Joseph to overcome this assault of the enemy. He urges
what he owed both to God and his master. We are bound in honour
as well as
justice and gratitude
not in any thing to wrong those who place trust in us
how secretly soever it may be done. He would not offend his God. Three
arguments Joseph urges upon himself. 1. He considers who he was that was
tempted. One in covenant with God
who professed religion and relation to him.
2. What the sin was to which he was tempted. Others might look upon it as a
small matter; but Joseph did not so think of it. Call sin by its own name
and
never lessen it. Let sins of this nature always be looked upon as great
wickedness
as exceedingly sinful. 3. Against whom he was tempted to sin
against God. Sin is against God
against his nature and his dominion
against
his love and his design. Those that love God
for this reason hate sin. The
grace of God enabled Joseph to overcome the temptation
by avoiding the temper.
He would not stay to parley with the temptation
but fled from it
as escaping
for his life. If we mean not to do iniquity
let us flee as a bird from the
snare
and as a roe from the hunter.
Commentary on Genesis 39:13-18
Joseph's mistress
having tried in vain to make him a
guilty man
endeavoured to be avenged on him. Those that have broken the bonds
of modesty
will never be held by the bonds of truth. It is no new thing for
the best of men to be falsely accused of the worst of crimes
by those who
themselves are the worst of criminals. It is well there is a day of discovery
coming
in which all shall appear in their true characters.
Commentary on Genesis 39:19-23
Joseph's master believed the accusation. Potiphar
it is
likely
chose that prison
because it was the worst; but God designed to open
the way to Joseph's honour. Joseph was owned and righted by his God. He was
away from all his friends and relations; he had none to help or comfort him;
but the Lord was with Joseph
and showed him mercy. Those that have a good
conscience in a prison
have a good God there. God gave him favour in the sight
of the keeper of the prison; he trusted him to manage the affairs of the
prison. A good man will do good wherever he is
and will be a blessing even in
bonds and banishment. Let us not forget
through Joseph
to look unto Jesus
who suffered being tempted
yet without sin; who was slandered
and persecuted
and imprisoned
but without cause; who by the cross ascended to the throne. May
we be enabled to follow the same path in submitting and in suffering
to the
same place of glory.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Genesis》
Genesis 39
Verse 1
[1] And
Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar
an officer of Pharaoh
captain
of the guard
an Egyptian
bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites
which
had brought him down thither.
The Jews have a proverb
If the world did but
know the worth of good men
they would hedge them about with pearls. Joseph was
sold to an officer of Pharaoh
with whom he might get acquainted with public
persons
and public business
and so be fitted for the preferment he was
afterwards designed for. What God intends men for
he will be sure
some way or
other
to qualify them for.
Verse 2
[2] And the LORD was with Joseph
and he was a prosperous man; and he was in
the house of his master the Egyptian.
Those that can separate us from all our
friends
cannot deprive us of the gracious presence of our God. When Joseph had
none of his relations with him
he had his God with him
even in the house of
the Egyptian: Joseph was banished from his father's house
but the Lord was
with him. It is God's presence with us that makes all we do prosperous. Those
that would prosper
must therefore make God their friend; and those that do
prosper
must therefore give God the praise.
Verse 6
[6] And
he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had
save
the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person
and well favoured.
He knew not ought he had
save the bread
which he did eat — The servant had all the care and trouble
of the estate
the master had only the enjoyment of it; an example not to be
imitated by any master
unless he could be sure that he had one like Joseph for
a servant.
Verse 9
[9]
There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing
from me but thee
because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great
wickedness
and sin against God?
How can I sin against God — Not only how shall I do it and sin against my master
my mistress
myself
my own body and soul
but against God? - Gracious souls look upon this
as the worst thing in sin
that it is against God
against his nature and his
dominion
against his love and his design. They that love God
for this reason
hate sin.
Verse 10
[10] And it came to pass
as she spake to Joseph day by day
that he hearkened
not unto her
to lie by her
or to be with her.
He hearkened not to her
so much as to be
with her. Those that would be kept from harm
must keep themselves out of
harm's way.
Verse 12
[12] And
she caught him by his garment
saying
Lie with me: and he left his garment in
her hand
and fled
and got him out.
When she laid hold on him
he left his
garment in her hand - He would not stay to parley with the temptation
but flew
out from it with the utmost abhorrence
he left his garment as one escaping for
his life.
Verse 20
[20] And
Joseph's master took him
and put him into the prison
a place where the king's
prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
Where the king's prisoners were bound — Potiphar
it is likely
chose that prison because it was the worst; for
there the irons entered into the soul
Psalms 105:18
but God designed it to pave the
way to his enlargement. Our Lord Jesus
like Joseph was bound
and numbered
with the transgressors.
Verse 21
[21] But
the LORD was with Joseph
and shewed him mercy
and gave him favour in the
sight of the keeper of the prison.
But the Lord was with Joseph and shewed him
mercy. God despiseth not his prisoners
Psalms 69:33. No gates nor bars can shut out his
gracious presence from his people.
God gave him favour in the sight of the
keeper of the prison — God can raise up friends for his people
even where they little expect them. The keeper saw that God was with him
and
that every thing prospered under his hand
and therefore intrusted him with the
management of the affairs of the prison.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Genesis》
39 Chapter 39
Verses 1-6
And Joseph was brought down to Egypt
The prosperity of Joseph in the house of his first master
I.
ITS
EXTRAORDINARY NATURE. Cast off by his own brethren
he rises amongst strangers
to dignity and honour.
II. ITS BASIS AND
SECURITY.
1. His own bearing and conduct.
2. The favour of God.
III. ITS LESSONS.
1. That God’s blessings and grace are with His people everywhere
and under the severest trials.
2. That God’s blessing and grace are manifest to Others (Genesis 39:3).
3. That God blesses others for the sake of His people (Genesis 39:5).
4. That God is still working out His designs
even when they seem to
fail. (T. H. Leale.)
Lessons from Joseph in captivity
1. We have all our captivities at some time or other in our
experience. The essence of Joseph’s trial here was that he was taken whither he
had no wish to go
and was prevented from going back again to the home in which
his father was sitting mourning for his loss. But is not interference with our
comfort or our liberty still the bitter element in all our afflictions? Take
bodily illness
for example
and when you get at the root of the discomfort of
it
you find it in the union of these two things: you are where you do not want
to be--where you would never have thought of putting yourself--and you are held
there
whether you will or not
by a Power that is stronger than your own. No
external force constrains you
no fetters are on your limbs
yet you are held
where you are against your own liking
and you do not relish the situation--you
are a captive. But the same thing comes out in almost every sort of trial. You
are
let me suppose
in business perplexity. But that is not of your own
choosing; if you could have managed it
you would have been in quite different
circumstances. Yet
in spite of you
things have gone against you. Men whom you
had implicitly trusted
and whom you would have had no more thought of doubting
than you would think now of doubting your mother’s love
have proved deceitful;
or the course of trade has gone against you
and you are brought to a stand. You
have been carried away perhaps by brothers
perhaps by Ishmaelites--for the
race is not yet extinct--from the Canaan of comfort to the Egypt captivity
and
you are now in helpless perplexity. It may be standing
not like Joseph
in the
slave-pen
but in the market place of labour
and condemned to do nothing
because “no man hath hired” you. Ah! there are many
too many always
in a
largo city like this who are in just such circumstances. What then? Let them
learn from Joseph here that the first thing to do in a captivity is to
acquiesce in it as the will of God concerning them.
2. But then
in the second place
we must learn from Joseph to make
the best of our remaining opportunities in our captivity. If he was to be a
slave
Joseph was determined he would be the best of slaves
and what he was
required to do he would do with his might and with his heart. This is a most
important consideration
and it may
perhaps
help to explain why similar
trials have had such different results in different persons. One has been
bemoaning that it is not with him as it used to be
while the other has
discovered that some talents have been still left him
and he has set to work
with these. One has been saying
“If I had only the resources which I once
possessed I could do something; but now they have gone
I am helpless.” But the
other has been soliloquizing thus: “If I can do nothing else I can at least do
this
little as it is; and if I put it into the hand of Christ
He can make it
great”; and so we account for the unhappiness and uselessness of the one
and
for the happiness and usefulness of the other. Nor will it do to say that this
difference is a mere thing of temperament. It is a thing of character. The one
acts in faith
recognizing God’s hand in his affliction
the other acts in
unbelief
seeing nothing but his own calamity
and that only increases his
affliction. So we come to this: keep fast hold of God’s hand in your captivity
and do your best in that which is open to you. That will ultimately bring you
out of it; but if you lose that you will lose everything. (W. M. Taylor
D.
D.)
Joseph a slave
I. THAT A GOOD
MAN IN CAPTIVITY CAN ENJOY GOD’S PRESENCE.
II. THAT A GOOD
MAN IN BONDAGE CAN SHOW FORTH GOD’S GLORY.
III. THAT A GOOD
MAN IN SLAVERY CAN DEVELOP THE HUMANITY OF OTHERS.
IV. THAT A GOOD
MAN IN BONDAGE MAY BE TRUSTED.
V. THAT A GOOD
MAN IS A GREAT BLESSING WHEREVER HE MAY BE FOUND. (Homilist.)
Trying days
Notice some of the points brought out in this trying portion of
Joseph’s history.
1. The fact of having parted with the restraints and wholesome
influences of home.
2. Joseph’s new position also placed him among strangers.
3. Joseph’s lot was also that of inexperience surrounded with the
numerous and glaring temptations of a great city.
4. How Joseph’s new lot subjected his religious principles to the
test. (J. Leyburn
D. D.)
The trustworthy servant
I. JOSEPH’S
FAITHFULNESS TO HIS MASTER.
II. JOSEPH’S
FAITHFULNESS TO HIS GOD.
III. JOSEPH’S
SOURCE OF HELP AND GLADNESS. The Lord was with him. CONCLUSION:--What shall we
learn from this part of Joseph’s history? That amidst darkness--of sorrow
(Joseph exiled); of trial (Joseph tempted); of injustice (Joseph
imprisoned)--there always arises light for the faithful and pure of heart. Let
us ask God to make us from our earliest years
and in all circumstances
honest
diligent
pure-minded
patient; and let us never lose hold of our trust
in God’s help. (W. S. Smith
B. D.)
A kingly slave
Scene
Memphis. Splendid architecture
chased in mimic forms of nature
amid feathery palms waving in the breeze. A red quivering heat
like a baker’s
oven
enswathing field and city. On the horizon gigantic pyramids of stone.
Nearer to the eye calm
sleepy sphinxes
guarding the entry to palace and to
temple. On the margin of the city an open market
with piles of fruit; bales of
merchandise; slaves
for the most part
black as ebony; noisy hucksters;
groaning camels. Among the Nubian slaves a fair Syrian youth attracts
attention; realizes a high price
and passes into the hands of a pompous
potentate. To the careless traffickers Joseph was simply a question of gain or
loss--more money or less--an item of evanescent interest. But to Joseph it was
a question of joy or ruin--a matter of life or death. An awful reversal this
from the sunny atmosphere of home I Had God seen all this wrong-doing of men
and had He allowed it so far to succeed? Could it be that God was on the side
of righteousness?
I. RELIGION
TRANSFORMS A SLAVE INTO A HERO.
1. Outward circumstance is a trivial thing. “An officer of Pharaoh
bought him of the Ishmaelites.” It is a frightful degradation to be reduced to
a chattel; yet it is only external degradation. But the man need not be
degraded. Slavery may give scope for the play of noble principles. Integrity
faithfulness
goodness
piety
love
are untouched
are free to develop.
2. Man’s judgment is often in opposition to God’s.
3. In the darkest night true piety shines the more brightly.
Doubtless
Joseph was “cast down
” yet was he “not in despair.” Instead of
repining
he kept a brave heart. Here in Potiphar’s mansion is one doing God’s
will as angels do it in heaven. There is a noble seraph within this apparent
slave.
II. RELIGION
BRINGS MEN INTO PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD. “The Lord was with him: the Lord made all
that he did to prosper.”
1. A good man is a mystery to onlookers. There is something about
him which the world cannot understand. He is patient when others fume and fret.
He is buoyant when others are submerged. An unseen Anchor hold his barque
let
the storm howl as it may.
2. This superior factor in life is conspicuous. “His master saw that
the Lord was with him.” Such diligence
honesty
thoughtfulness
promptitude
were unusual
unconventional
superhuman. Some men have a trick of concealing
their religion. Joseph allowed his light naturally to shine out.
3. God is an active Partner in honest work. The source of Joseph’s
prosperity is revealed: “The Lord made it to prosper.” A merchant in feeble
health once accounted for his successful conduct of a gigantic business by
saying that God was his acting Partner. This is the fellowship of the Spirit. A
true Christian is man plus God.
III. RELIGION MAKES
A MAN A MEDIUM OF BLESSING TO OTHERS. “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house
for Joseph’s sake.” Potiphar is not even named: Joseph is everything.
1. A good man is the channel of good to others. Here is God’s law of
mediation. A man prospers in business through the prayers of a pious servant. A
father is raised up from a bed of fever for the sake of a child. A husband is
saved from moral wreck by the faith and love of a wife. The God-fearing are the
salt of the earth. For Joseph’s sake
the fields of Potiphar are fruitful.
2. Real prosperity embraces all the interests of mankind. “The
blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field.”
The beneficent effect of religion is commensurate with man. It blesses domestic
life
agriculture
commerce
politics
literature. It enhances all human joy;
it soothes all human sorrow. It kindles a lamp in the darkness of the grave. It
fills the heart with an immortal hope. (J. Dickerson Davies
M. A.)
Joseph in Egypt
Joseph
whose studied silence has unrivalled eloquence
is now in
Egypt. New scenes are before him. In the far distant stretches the beauteous
valley of the Nile
its fertility unsurpassed. Pyramids
hoary with years
strange mementoes of buried generations
tower towards the transparent
firmament. A brief journey has brought him from a region scarcely more than
semi-barbarous to one far advanced in civilization. The skilled agriculturist
is in the field
the ingenious mechanic at his daily toil. The children have
those rare evidences of refined state of society
toys
with which to while
away the joyous hours. The judge in his court is administering statutes which
even modern society might advantageously re-enact. The priest in the temple is
endeavouring to propitiate the gods
and secure blessings for their erring
children on earth. A written language
the laborious work of many generations
and which had passed from hieroglyphics to phonetics
meets his eye on
cunningly prepared papyrus leaves. A settled religious faith
a complicated
system of government
a language bearing evidence of growth through many
centuries
a vast empire consolidated upon the wrecks of pre-existing
nationalities
great material prosperity accompanied with the knowledge of the
physical sciences
of history
of metaphysics
and even of theology; a degree
of progress in the fine arts which
though different
still rivals that of the
present day--these
as well as their institutions
their laws
and their
brilliant achievements
unmistakably testify to the immense antiquity of the
empire under whose overshadowing influence Joseph is to pass his days of servitude.
Nor is he a solitary bondman among a nation of freemen
but one of a vast
number of slaves--slaves from Nubia
from Ethiopia
from Asia
from many
surrounding nations
all of which had witnessed
and many of which had
submitted to the conquering valour of Egypt’s powerful emperors. (J. S. Van
Dyke.)
Lessons
1. Histories of the wicked and righteous are set together by God’s
Spirit to abase sin and heighten grace in the Church. So of Judah and Joseph.
2. Providence determining to bring any to greatness
leads them
usually first into a low estate. Joseph dreams of dignities
but first meets
with slavery.
3. Men-selling
though it be great sin in man
yet is it permitted
and ordered by God.
4. God’s choicest ones may be bought and sold by the hands of
strangers and enemies.
5. Providence orders the slavery of His own to such men
by whom
more fitly they may be preferred.
6. Egypt may be the house of bondage to God’s servants in order to
greater freedom (Genesis 39:1). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Piety in unfavourable places
Joseph’s religion overcame all obstacles because there was real
life in it. The other day I slackened my step opposite a garden to notice the
crocuses raising their slender heads amid the heavy gravel on the walk. The
tender plants
having real life
forced their way through the hard earth and
conquered the very stones. So the heavenly plant of Joseph’s piety displayed
all its beauty and gave out its sweet odours in the wicked palaces of Potiphar
and Pharaoh.
Joseph carried down to Egypt
I. First
then
we will contemplate THE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH JOSEPH WENT DOWN TO EGYPT.
1. It was not by his own choice. This is intimated by the emphatic
expression “ he was brought down.” It appears that his brethren became envious
of him; and they so indulged this bad feeling of the heart Genesis 37:18-20). In saying that it is
similar to the case of some persons
I do not mean that the same treatment is
experienced by them
though unhappily this is the case with many who are torn
from their native shores and sold into captivity and bondage against their
will; but what I mean is
that their position in life is often fixed for a time
without any power on their part to shape their own course. They are governed by
the force of circumstances
and find themselves fixed in situations
not
because they have chosen it so to be
but because things have tended to that
particular position in which they find themselves placed--without their own
choice
and without their own control. On the other hand
there is a
dissimilarity between the case of Joseph and some others. Time
circumstances
means
are all such that they can
apparently
make their own election
and
direct their own pursuits.
2. It was with the prospect of servitude before him. The Midianites
bought him to sell him as a slave. That Joseph’s being a servant
distinguished
as he was by only being removed two descents from Abraham
and honoured as he
was also--as we shall afterwards find--by God himself
has sanctified
as it
were
the employment of servitude and made it honourable. It can never be a
disgrace to us to be employed as he was
especially if we pursue our calling in
the way that he pursued his. And how was that? perhaps some may ask. We answer
that he pursued it faithfully. While he served his master he was faithful to
the confidence reposed in him. He was an honest man
and this conduct led to his
services being viewed by his master with acceptance. But we mark another trait
in the character of Joseph; he was attentive to his duties. But there was a
principle in Joseph’s conduct that we must not omit to notice--he feared God.
In this was the secret of his prosperity. But in further contemplating the
circumstances under which Joseph went down to Egypt
we observe that--
3. He was brought down thither really
though not apparently at the
time
by God. This Joseph himself acknowledged to his brethren in an interview
with them some few years afterwards (Genesis 46:7-8). Was it God
then
who
excited in Joseph’s brethren that feeling of envy which existed in their
breasts--the feeling which led them first to resolve on his murder
and then to
agree to report to his father that some evil beast had slain him? No; it was
not God who was the author of this conduct. The whole of it was sinful; and God
is not the author of sin.
II. What are the
LESSONS WE LEARN FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCES WE HAVE BEEN CONTEMPLATING?
1. To acknowledge God in all our ways.
2. To confide in God under all circumstances. We can scarcely
conceive
humanly speaking
of any circumstances being more dark and mysterious
than those in which Joseph was placed. “It was good for me that I was
afflicted.” And
eventually
our light afflictions
which are but for a moment
shall work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 2 Corinthians 4:17). On this point
then
I will conclude in the words of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 1:10)
“Who is among you
thatfeareth the Lord
that obeyeth the voice of his servant
that walketh in
darkness
and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord
and stay
upon his God.”
3. To repress every bad feeling of the heart.
4. That the providence of God attends those that love Him. But God
does not lead all His children to degrees of honour and usefulness equal to
those of Joseph. Among His people there are those who may be compared to
vessels of gold
and of silver
of wood
and of earth; some to honour and some
to dishonour” (2 Timothy 2:20). (W. Blackley
B.
A.)
Joseph in Potiphar’s house
The name Potiphar frequently occurs on the monuments of Egypt
(written either Pet-Pa-Ra
or Pet-P-Ra)
and means: “Dedicated to Ra
” or the
sun. According to some writers
“at the time that Joseph was sold into Egypt
the country was not united under the rule of a single native line
but governed
by several dynasties
of which the fifteenth dynasty of Shepherd-kings was the
predominant one
the rest being tributary to it.” At any rate
he would be
carried into that part of Egypt which was always most connected with Palestine.
Potiphar’s office at the court of Pharaoh was that of “chief of the
executioners
” most probably (as it is rendered in our Authorized Version)
captain of the king’s body-guard. In the house of Potiphar it went with Joseph
as formerly in his own home. For it is not in the power of circumstances
prosperous or adverse
to alter our characters. He that is faithful in little
shall also be faithful in much; and from him who knoweth not how to employ what
is committed to his charge
shall be taken even that he hath. Joseph was
faithful
honest
upright
and conscientious
because in his earthly
he served
a heavenly Master
whose presence he always realized. Accordingly “Jehovah was
with him
” and “Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand.” His
master was not long in observing this. From an ordinary domestic slave he
promoted him to be “overseer over his house
and all that he had he put into
his hand.” The confidence was not misplaced. Jehovah’s blessing henceforth
rested upon Potiphar’s substance
and he “left all that he had in Joseph’s
hand; and he knew not aught that he had
save the bread which he did eat.” The
sculptures and paintings of the ancient Egyptian tombs bring vividly before us
the daily life and duties of Joseph. “The property of great men is shown to
have been managed by scribes
who exercised a most methodical and minute
supervision over all the operations of agriculture
gardening
the keeping of
live stock
and fishing. Every product was carefully registered
to check the
dishonesty of the labourers
who in Egypt have always been famous in this
respect. Probably in no country was farming ever more systematic. Joseph’s
previous knowledge of tending flocks
and perhaps of husbandry
and his
truthful character
exactly fitted him for the post of overseer. How long he
filled it we are not told.” (Dr. Edersheim.)
And the Lord was with
Joseph
and he was a prosperous man
The secret of prosperity
There are many ways in which the Lord is with a man. Not always by
visible symbol; seldom by an external badge which we can see and read. God is
with a man in the suggestion of thought; in the animation of high
noble
heavenly feeling; in the direction of his steps; in the direction of his
speech
enabling him to give the right look
the right answer at the right time
under the right circumstances; giving him the schooling which he could never
pay for
training him by methods and processes unknown in human schools
and
not to be understood except by those who have passed under them. “If any man
lack wisdom let him ask of God.” Ideas are the gifts of God
as well as wheat
fields and vineyards and other fruits of the earth. Suggestions in business
delivering thoughts in the time of extremity
silence when it is better than
speech
speech when it will do more than silence. “These also come forth from
the Lord of Hosts
who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.” The
Lord was with Joseph and yet Joseph was under Potiphar. These are the
contradictions and anomalies of life which ill-taught souls can never
understand
and which become to them mysteries which torment their spirits and
which distract their love. Undoubtedly this is an anomalous state of life:
Joseph brought down to Egypt by his purchasers--Joseph sold into the house of
Potiphar--bought and sold and exchanged like an article of merchandise. Yet
he
was a prosperous man! Understand that there are difficulties which cannot
impair prosperity
and that there is a prosperity which dominates over all
external circumstances and vindicates its claim to be considered a Divine gift.
Looking at this case through and through
one would say
it is hardly correct
to assert that Joseph was a prosperous man
when he was to all intents and
purposes in bondage
when he was the property of another
when not one hour of
his time belonged to himself
when he was cut off from his father and from his
brethren. Yet
it is distinctly stated that
notwithstanding these things
the
Lord was with him and he was a prosperous man. There must be a lesson for some
of us here. When men live in their circumstances they never can be prosperous.
When a man has to go out into his wheat-field to know whether there is going to
be a good crop before ha can really enjoy himself--that man does not know what
true joy is. When a man has to read out of a bank-book before he dare take one
draught out of the goblet of happiness--that man’s thirst for joy will never be
slaked. Man cannot live in wheat-fields and bank-books and the things of the
present world. If he cannot live within himself
in the very sanctuary and
temple of God
then he is at the sport of every change of circumstance--one
shake of the telegraph wire may unsettle him
and the cloudy day may obscure
his hopes and darken what little soul he has left. If Joseph had lived in his
external circumstances he might have spent his days in tears and his nights in
hopelessness; but living a religious life
living with God
walking with God
identifying his very soul’s life with God
then the dust had no sovereignty
over him
external circumstances were under his feet. This is the solution of
many of our difficulties. Given a man’s relation to God
and you have the key
of his whole life. (J. Parker
D. D.)
A miniature portrait of Joseph
Scripture frequently sums up a man’s life in a single sentence.
Here is the biography of Joseph sketched by inspiration: “God was with him
” so
Stephen testified in his famous speech recorded in Acts 7:9. Observe
however
that the
portraits of Scripture give us not only the outer
but the inner life of the
man. Man looketh at the outward appearance
but the Lord looketh upon the
heart; and so the Scriptural descriptions of men are not of their visible life
alone
but of their spiritual life. Here we have Joseph as God saw him
the
real Joseph. Externally it did not always appear that God was with him
for he
did not always seem to be a prosperous man; but when you come to look into the
inmost soul of this servant of God
you see his true likeness--he lived in
communion with the Most High
and God blessed him: “The Lord was with Joseph
and he was a prosperous man.” This striking likeness of Joseph strongly reminds
us of our Master and Lord
that greater Joseph
who is Lord over all the world
for the sake of Israel. Peter
in his sermon to the household of Cornelius
said of our Lord that He “went about doing good
and healing all that were
oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.” Exactly what had been said of
Joseph. It is wonderful that the same words should describe both Jesus and
Joseph
the perfect Saviour and the imperfect patriarch. This having the Lord
with us is the inheritance of all the saints; for what is the apostolic
benediction in the Epistles but a desire that the triune God may be with us? To
the Church in Rome Paul saith
“Now the God of peace be with you all.” To the
Church in Corinth he writes
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love
of God
and the communion of the Holy Ghost
be with you all. Amen.” To the
Thessalonians he saith
“The Lord be with you all.” Did not our glorious Lord
say
“Lo
I am with you alway
even unto the end of the world”?
I. First
we will
run over Joseph’s life
and note THE FACT “The Lord was with Joseph.”
1. God was gracious to Joseph as a child. Happy are those who have
Christ with them in the morning
for they shall walk with Him all day
and
sweetly rest with Him at eventide.
2. “The Lord was with Joseph” when Joseph was at home
and He did
not desert him when he was sent away from his dear father and his beloved home
and was sold for a slave. I think I see him in the slave market exposed for
sale. We have heard with what trembling anxiety the slave peers into the faces
of those who are about to buy. Will he get a good master? Will one purchase him
who will treat him like a man
or one who will use him worse than a brute? “
The Lord was with Joseph” as he stood there to be sold
and he fell into good
hands. When he was taken away to his master’s house
and the various duties of
his service were allotted to him
the Lord was with Joseph. The house of the
Egyptian had never been so pure
so honest
so honoured before. Beneath
Joseph’s charge it was secretly the temple of his devotions
and manifestly the
abode of comfort and confidence. That Hebrew slave had a glory of character
about him
which all perceived
and especially his master
for we read: “His
master saw that the Lord was with him
and that the Lord made all that he did
to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight.”
3. Then came a crisis in his history
the time of testing. We see
Joseph tried by a temptation in which
alas
so many perish. He was attacked in
a point at which youth is peculiarly vulnerable. His comely person made him the
object of unholy solicitations from one upon whose goodwill his comfort greatly
depended
and had it not been that the Lord was with him he must have fallen.
Slavery itself was a small calamity compared with that which would have
happened to young Joseph had he been enslaved by wicked passions. Happily the
Lord was with him
and enabled him to overcome the tempter with the question
“How can I do this great wickedness
and sin against God?” He fled. That flight
was the truest display of courage. It is the only way of victory in sins of the
flesh. The apostle says
“Flee youthful lusts which war against the soul.” When
Telemachus was in the isle of Calypso
his mentor cried
“Fly
Telemachus
fly;
there remains no hope of a victory but by flight.” Wisely Joseph left his
garment and fled
for God was with him.
4. The scene shifts again
and he who bad been first a favoured child
at home
and then a slave
and then a tempted one
now becomes a prisoner. The
prisons of Egypt were
doubtless
as horrible as all such places were in the
olden times
and here is Joseph in the noisome dungeon. He evidently felt his
imprisonment very much
for we are told in the Psalms that “the iron entered
into his soul.” He felt it a cruel thing to be under such a slander
and to
suffer for his innocence. A young man so pure
so chaste
must have felt it to
be sharper than a whip of scorpions to be accused as he was; yet as he sat down
in the gloom of his cell
the Lord was with him. The degradation of a prison
had not deprived him of his Divine Companion. Blessed be the name of the Lord
He does not forsake His people when they are in disgrace: nay
He is more
pleasant with them when they are falsely accused than at any other time
and He
cheers them in their low estate. God was with him
and very soon the kindly
manners
the gentleness
the activity
the truthfulness
the industry of Joseph
had won upon the keeper of the prison
so that Joseph rose again to the top
and was the overseer of the prison. Like a cork
which you may push down
but
it is sure to come up again
so was Joseph: he must swim
he could not drown
the Lord was with him. The Lord’s presence made him a king and a priest
wherever he went
and men tacitly owned his influence. In the little kingdom of
the prison Joseph reigned
for “ God was with him.”
5. Joseph was made ruler over all Egypt
and God was with him. Well
did the king say
“Can we find such a man as this is in whom the Spirit of God
is?” His policy in storing up corn in the plenteous years succeeded admirably
for God was evidently working by him to preserve the human race from extinction
by famine.
6. God was with him in bringing down his father and the family into
Egypt
and locating them in Goshen
and with him till he himself came to die
when he “took an oath of the children of Israel
saying God will surely visit
you
and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” The Lord was with him
and
kept him faithful to the covenant
and the covenanted race
even to the close
of a long life of one hundred and ten years.
II. We shall next
review THE EVIDENCE OF THE FACT that God was with him.
1. The first evidence of it is this: he was always under the
influence of the Divine presence
and lived in the enjoyment of it.
2. The next evidence is this: God was certainly with Joseph because
he was pure in heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God”;
no other can do so. What fellowship hath light with darkness
or what concord
hath Christ with Belial? The intense purity of Joseph was a proof that the
thrice holy God was ever with him. He will keep the feet of His saints. When
they are tempted He will deliver them from evil
for His presence sheds an
atmosphere of holiness around the heart in which He dwells.
3. The next evidence in Joseph’s case was the diligence with which
he exercised himself wherever he was. God was with Joseph
and therefore the
man of God hardly cared as to the outward circumstances of his position
but
began at once to work that which is good.
4. But notice again
God was with Joseph
and that made him tender
and sympathetic. Some men who are prompt enough in business are rough
coarse
hard; but not so Joseph. His tenderness distinguishes him; he is full of loving
consideration. He loved with all his soul
and so will every man who has God
with him
for “God is love.” If you do not love
God is net with you. If you go
through the world
selfish and morose
bitter
suspicious
bigoted
hard
the
devil is with you
God is not; for where God is He expands the spirit
He
causes us to love all mankind with the love of benevolence
and He makes us
take a sweet complacency in the chosen brotherhood of Israel
so that we
specially delight to do good to all those of the household of faith.
5. Another mark of God’s presence with Joseph is his great wisdom.
He did everything as it ought to be done. You can scarcely alter anything in
Joseph’s life to improve it
and I think if I admire his wisdom in one thing
more than another it is in his wonderful silence. It is easy to talk
comparatively easy to talk well
but to be quiet is the difficulty.
6. “God was with him
” and this is the last evidence I give of it
that he was kept faithful to the covenant
faithful to Israel and to Israel’s
God right through. Joseph stuck to his people and to their God: though he must
live in Egypt
he will not be an Egyptian; he will not even leave his dead body
to lie in an Egyptian pyramid. The Egyptians built a costly tomb for Joseph: it
stands to this day
but his body is not there. “I charge you
” says he
“take
my bones with you; for I do not belong to Egypt
my place is in the land of
promise.” “He gave commandment concerning his bones.” Let others do as they
will; as for me
my lot is cast with those who follow the Lord fully. Yes
my
Lord
where Thou dwellest I will dwell; Thy people shall be my people
and Thy
God my God
and may my children be Thy children to the last generation. If the
Lord is with you that is what you will say
but if He is not with you
and you
prosper in” the world
and increase in riches
you will turn your back on
Christ and His people
and we shall have to say as Paul did
“Demas hath forsaken
me
having loved this present world.”
III. Thirdly
let
us observe
THE RESULT OF GOD’S BEING WITH JOSEPH. The result was that “he was
a prosperous man”; but notice that
although the Lord was with Joseph
it did
not screen him from hatred. “The Lord was with him
” but his brethren hated
him. Ay
and if the Lord loves a man
the world will spite him. Furthermore
“The Lord was with Joseph
” bat it did not screen him from temptation of the
worst kind: it did not prevent his mistress casting her wicked eyes upon him.
The best of men may be tempted to the worst of crimes. The presence of God did
not screen him from slander: the base woman accused him of outrageous
wickedness
and God permitted Potiphar to believe her. Nay
the Divine presence
did not screen him from pain: he sat in prison wearing fetters till the iron
entered into his soul
and yet “ the Lord was with him.” That presence did not
save him from disappointment. He said to the butler
“Think of me when it is
well with thee”; but the butler altogether forgot him. Everything may seem to
go against you
and yet God may be with you. The Lord does not promise you that
you shall have what looks like prosperity
but you shall have what is real
prosperity in the better sense. Now
what did God’s being with Joseph do for
him?
1. First
it saved him from gross sin. He flees
he shuts his ears:
he flees and conquers
for God is with him.
2. God was with him
and the next result was it enabled him to act
grandly. Wherever he is he does the right thing
does it splendidly.
3. In such a manner did God help Joseph that he was enabled to
fulfil a glorious destiny
for if Noah be the world’s second father
what shall
we say of Joseph
but that he was its foster nurse? The human race had died of
famine if Joseph’s foresight had not laid by in store the produce of the seven
plenteous years
for there was a famine over all lands.
4. Also it gave him a very happy life
for taking the life of Joseph
all through it is an enviable one. Nobody would think of putting him down among
the miserable. If we had to make a selection of unhappy men
we certainly
should not think of Joseph. No
it was a great life and a happy life; and such
will yours be if God be with you.
5. And
to finish
God gave Joseph and his family a double portion
in Israel
which never happened to any other of the twelve sons of Jacob. Those
who begin early with God
and stand fast to the end
and hold to God both in
trouble and prosperity
shall see their children brought to the Lord
and in
their children they shall possess the double
yea
the Lord shall render unto
them double for all they may lose in honour for His name’s sake. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Prosperity
In a long sunshine of outward prosperity
the dust of our inward
corruptions is apt to fly about and lift itself up. Sanctified affliction
like
seasonable rain
lays the dust and softens the soul. (H. G. Salter.)
Prosperity and security
Prosperity is not to be deemed the greatest security. The lofty
unbending cedar is more exposed to the injurious blast than the lowly shrub.
The little pinnace rides safely along the shore
while the gallant ship
advancing is wrecked. Those sheep which have the most wool are generally the
soonest fleeced. Poverty is its own defence against robbery. A fawning world is
worse than a frowning world. Who would shake those trees upon which there is no
fruit? (T. Secker.)
The prosperity of Joseph
This cannot mean that Joseph was entirely happy
or that he had
everything he wanted. It means that he prayed to God
and knew that God heard
his prayers; it means that he felt that God was good to him and was helping him
gain the favour of his master; it means that he was certain that by and by he
would be delivered in some way; it means that he was able to bear his troubles
and to make the best of them; it means that he was getting along well. Read the
text again. It doesn’t say
the Lord was with Joseph because he was a
prosperous man; but
the Lord was with Joseph
and he was a prosperous man.
1. It was because of Joseph’s simplicity. By this I do not mean that
he was foolish. I mean that he was just what he seemed to be
and seemed to be
just what he was. He didn’t deceive folks. He had no small
mean ways. Perhaps
you may say that he would have escaped the trouble that was coming if he had
not had this simplicity; but he did not need to escape it; it was far better
that it should come. It is best to do right
no matter what comes. Joseph’s
trouble did not hurt him
it did him good; and all the trouble that will ever
come to you from doing right will be a blessing to you.
2. God was with Joseph
and he was prosperous
because of his
obedience. When Jacob’s sons had been away from home some time
their father
began to be anxious. I can’t make you understand the full meaning of this word
anxious; but when you are men and women and have children of your own
you will
know without being told. Well
Jacob was anxious about his sons; he was afraid
something had happened to them
and wanted to hear from them. In those days
and in that part of the world
there was no mail
and people usually travelled
from place to place in large companies called caravans. This is the way they
travelled then
and the way they travel now. But there was no caravan going
where his sons were
and so Jacob wanted some person to go alone
and there was
no one who was so trustworthy and so fearless
who would go and come so
quickly
and do his errand so well
as Joseph. So his father said to him: “Do
not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come and I will send thee unto
them.” And Joseph answered promptly: “Here am I”; which means
I am ready to
go; send me. And his father sent him. Now Joseph’s obedience is shown here
not
merely in his saying
“Here am I
” nor in his starting off at once
but in his
going
and going until he found them. Many boys and girls say
“I will go
” and
some actually start
but that is all they do. They find a difficulty and come
back
saying
“I can’t”; or they are drawn away by bad company; or for some
other reason they give it up. But see how Joseph did. When he came to Shechem
where his brothers had been
they were not there
but while he was searching
for them he came across a man who told him they had gone to Dothan
fourteen
miles farther. Many a lad of seventeen hearing this would have gone back
for
Joseph was nearly ninety miles from home
alone
and in a dangerous country.
But this was not Joseph’s way. His father had sent him to find his brothers
and he was determined to do it
no matter if it did take him fourteen miles farther
than he thought they were
and more than a hundred miles from the tents of
Jacob in Hebron. This is obedience that is obedience
to do what you are told
to
to face dangers
to overcome difficulties. I want these children to do what
they are told to
whatever it costs. It cost Joseph his liberty and almost his
life
but it was the foundation of all his future greatness; it was worth more
than liberty or life; it was worth ten thousand times more than the coat of
many colours
or his father’s favouritism
or the throne of Egypt. Obedience
taught Joseph how to command
and no one knows how to command who has not
learned first how to obey.
3. God was with Joseph
and he was prosperous because of his moral
courage. I suppose you know the meaning of courage. It is bravery
fearlessness. A boy who leaps overboard to save a drowning companion is
courageous; so is a man who rushes into a burning building to save persons from
being burned. This is courage. But what is moral courage? It is that which
makes one do right when people will blame him
or laugh at him
or try to
injure him for doing so. It is easier for many to be knocked down than to be
laughed at or blamed. I don’t know that Joseph ever struck a blow in his life;
and we do know that when his brothers sold him he cried very hard
and begged
them not to do it; for afterwards they said one to another: “We are verily
guilty concerning our brother
in that we saw the anguish of his soul
when he
besought us and we would not hear.” But his moral courage was shown by the way
he behaved in adversity. He dared to do right wherever he was. No matter how
wicked those about him were
he would not do a wrong thing. Nor is this all; he
gave his reasons. He said
“How
then
can I do this great wickedness and sin
against God?” And then he kept away from temptation. But Joseph showed moral
courage in still another way. When he was accused falsely and punished
he did
not try to save himself by exposing his accuser. He said to himself: “I will
suffer rather than ruin the reputation of this woman; may be she will repent”;
and what was still better
he chose to go to prison rather than remain in
temptation.
4. And another reason for Joseph’s prosperity was his patience. To
be patient is to bear quietly any evil
such as pain
toil
affliction.
Joseph’s affliction lasted about thirteen years. All this time he was a slave
and part of it--two years certainly--he was a prisoner. This was a long time
but he made it seem shorter by always trying to deserve something better.
5. Another reason for Joseph’s prosperity was his spirit of
forgiveness. It is said of the North American Indians that they never forget an
injury and never forget a kindness; this may be well for a heathen savage
but
it will not do for a Christian child. Christ said
forgive your enemies.
6. Once more
God was with Joseph and he was prosperous because of
his trust in God. Joseph trusted in God when he was a boy
when he went away
from home
and when he was sold to the Ishmaelites
when he was in the prison
and when he was on the throne. It was this that sustained him in his trials
that kept him in temptation
and that made him a wise and virtuous ruler. (E.
N. Pomeroy.)
Prosperous days
When may we speak of a man as “prosperous”? As a general rule
I
suppose
when he carries out his plans to a successful issue; when his business
is established on a sound basis
and is in a flourishing condition; when his
investments are wisely made
and largely profitable. If
with all this
he
enjoys good health and lives in the midst of domestic affection and comfort
then his lot is doubly fortunate. When life is attended by these circumstances
he may be said to be “a prosperous man.”
I. PROSPERITY IS
A LEGITIMATE OBJECT OF PURSUIT. Our great care should be to pursue it
lawfully--to use none but upright and honourable means for its attainment.
II. The counsels
given by wise and practical men as to THE BEST MEANS OF SECURING LEGITIMATE
SUCCESS are manifold--all agreeing in the main. One writer says
“If you wish
success in life
make perseverance your bosom friend
experience your wise
counsellor
caution your elder brother
and hope your guardian angel.” Another
likens prosperity to a ladder having six steps--faith
industry
perseverance
temperance
probity
independence. This
I think
is a ladder by which you are
sure to rise
and to rise safely.
III. PROSPERITY HAS
ITS DUTIES. Wealth always brings with itself responsibilities. Divine learning
is needed for this stewardship. One of the first duties of a prosperous man is
hearty gratitude to God. This will show itself in works of benevolence and
religion
and cheerful consecration to God.
IV. PROSPERITY HAS
ITS ANXIETIES. Care disfigures its face. One of the most successful men of this
century
when surrounded by immense wealth and supposed to be enjoying it
wrote to a friend: “I live like a galley-slave
constantly occupied
and often
pass the night without sleeping. I am wrapt in a labyrinth of affairs
and worn
out with care.”
V. PROSPERITY HAS
ITS DANGERS. It may prove a great blessing to a man
or a great curse. Many
have been ruined by success. Valerian
the Roman Emperor
before he was raised
to the throne
was temperate
wise
and virtuous; but after his investment with
the purple he completely changed
and was notorious for meanness
imprudence
and general incapacity. (W. Walters.)
Prosperity and right principle
That in the working out of right principles there is a natural
tendency to promote prosperity
and ensure success. (R. Wardlaw
D. D.)
Tokens of God’s love
Prosperity is not always a sign of God’s special favour
yet
prosperity undoubtedly comes from God
and is a fruit of God’s love to His own
people
when He sees that prosperity is better for them than adversity. But how
did God show that He was present with Joseph
by making him to prosper? Was not
Joseph’s prosperity more properly his master’s than his own
when all the
business which he transacted was his master’s
and the profit redounded to him?
It is true
that Joseph’s prosperity was
to outward appearance
his master’s
advantage rather than his own. But as “the little that a righteous man hath is
better than the riches of many wicked
” so the benefit which Joseph derived
from Gem’s kindness to him was far greater than his master’s. He saw the love
of God mitigating and sweetening his sorrows
and recommending him to his
master’s favorer
that he might spend even the days of his banishment and
humiliation with comfort. The more clearly we can discern the love of God in
any prosperous incidents
the more pleasure we can take in them. A temporary
relief in bondage with the love of God
is worth more than all the prosperity
which ungodly men can enjoy. (G. Lawson
D. D.)
Lessons
1. The greatness of God disdains not to be with the lowness of His
servants. God and Joseph are together.
2. God’s special presence of grace is vouchsafed to such as are more
especially humbled.
3. God’s gracious presence maketh souls prosperous
wherever they
be.
4. Gracious souls
though in bondage
will abide faithful unto
Egyptian masters.
5. Providence in exercising saints usually proportions employment to
endowment. Joseph for the house (Genesis 39:2).
6. God maketh sinful masters to see that He is present graciously
with their servants.
7. Gracious servants make house
and all affairs prosper unto
ungracious masters.
8. God maketh wicked men to see that they prosper by reason of His
servants (Genesis 39:3). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Joseph’s good fortune
Our common expression
“He’s a lucky fellow
” is hardly a phrase
that we expect to find in Scripture. But it does occur
in Wycliffe’s version
in this very thirty-ninth chapter of Genesis. The second verse
as rendered by
the earliest of Bible translators
runs thus: “The Lord was with Joseph
and he
was a luekie felowe.” Both the words “lucky” and “fellow” lost dignity between
the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries
and King James’ translators wrote
instead “a prosperous man.” But it is useful to refer to the older and more
colloquial form
to emphasize what is really a most important though little
recognized truth
namely
that a “lucky fellow” is not he that is rich
not he
that makes a good stroke of business
not he that wins a coveted post
but he
of whom we can truly say
“The Lord is with him.” For see who it is that the
Bible calls a “lucky fellow.” Would any of us call Joseph “lucky”? Yes
says a
sharp boy
I should; for in one day he became the greatest man in Egypt next to
the king. The teacher who gets such an answer as this will himself be lucky!
There is nothing like a half-wrong answer to emphasize the right one. The
rejoinder will be--Very well
but look and see when it is that Joseph is called
a “lucky fellow.” The phrase is not used of him when he becomes virtual ruler
of Egypt
but long before that. It is just when he begins his life as a slave
in a strange land. And the narrative is going on to tell of his encountering
sore temptation
false accusation
unjust condemnation
and the horrors of an
Egyptian prison. It is at the beginning of all this that he is called a “lucky
fellow.” Why? Because the Lord was with him. (E. Stock.)
The Lord blessed the
Egyptians house for Joseph’s sake
Joseph brings prosperity to his master’s house
Some individuals there are who carry blessings with them
everywhere. Like richly-scented flowers they fill the habitations into which
they enter with delicious perfume
or
like clouds surcharged with rain
they
let down benefits on every hand. Thus this Hebrew captive brings with him into
Egypt
and into the house of Potiphar
the captain of the guard
a cornu
copiae--“a horn of plenty
” and for his sake the Egyptian’s stores are
multiplied to an extent he had not previously known. And cases similar to this
are also often seen. Pious servants and pious slaves have frequently been
blessings to their master’s house. Even in instances where the slave has been
treated cruelly
his prayers
offered up in secret for his owner’s weal
have
been answered in a manner the most remarkable
and his efforts to promote that
owner’s interests have been crowned with very considerable success. Generally
however
it is only when the master acts towards his servant or towards his
slave with justice that the blessing of heaven descends upon his house. It was
from the time that Potiphar raised Joseph from the position of a slave to one
of comparative dignity and honour that the Lord blessed him. (Thornley
Smith.)
One man blessed for the sake of another
One man blessed for the sake of another. Here is a great law--here
is a special lesson for many. A man looks at his property
and reasons that he
must be good
and approved of God
otherwise he never could have so many
blessings in his possession. It never enters the man’s mind that he has every
one of these blessings for the sake of another man. The master blessed because
he has a good servant! Would to God I could speak thunder-claps and speak
lightning to many thousands in our city and throughout our land to-day upon
this very matter I Here is a man
for example
who never enters a place of
worship. No
no--not he. His wife is a member of the church
and if ever she is
fiveminutes late in on Sunday
his mighty lordship foams and fumes
and is not
going to be put upon in this way
and have his household arrangements upset by
these canting
fanatical
religious people. What shall I call him? The wretch
the almost-devil
owes every penny he has to his dishonoured praying wife. If
that woman--the only angel in God’s universe that cares for his soul--were to
cease praying for him
God might rain fire and brimstone upon him and his
dwelling-place. He does not know it. No! He is shrewd
cunning
wide-awake
has
his eyes open
knows when the iron is hot and when to strike it
and he is such
a wonderful genius in business. A maniac--not knowing that it is his praying
wife that saves him from ruin
meanwhile from hell I Here is another man who
thinks it manly to blaspheme
swear
and use profane language upon every
opportunity
and to ridicule religion and religious people. He knows that it is
all wrong. He has revelations from the nasty little god that he worships that
everybody in the world is all wrong but himself. And that man prospers! His
fields are verdant in spring-time
his crops are rich and golden in autumn. If
you speak a word to him about religion he laughs at you
and intimates
in a
not very roundabout manner
that you are a fool. And he owes all he has to a
little invalid girl
who believes in God and prays to Him
and connects the
house with heaven! God blesses one man for the sake of another. The husband is
blessed because of the godliness of the wife. The parent is honoured because of
the Christianity of the child. The strong man has prospered in his way because
of the poor weak creature in his house who is mighty in soul towards God and
truth. Yet these are the elements and the facts which are so often overlooked
when men take stock and tell what they are worth. Ten men keep that
brimstone-and-fire shower back. The righteous are the salt of the earth. The
true
loving and God-fearing are the light of the world. But for them would God
be patient with the world? What would it be
with His great power
to crush your
little world
to pulverize and throw it away on the flying winds and forget it?
It is Paul that saves the vessel on the stormy Adriatic. It is Joseph that
blesses the house of Potiphar. It is the ten praying men that save the Sodoms
of the earth from the lightning showers of judgment. And this is God’s plan all
through. There is one man for whose sake all other men are blessed. This is the
principle of mediation which runs through all the Divine government of man. “If
any man sin
we have an advocate with the Father.” (J. Parker
D. D.)
A lesson to servants and masters
Joseph
like his father Jacob
is an example of contentment
industry
and fidelity
to servants. It is true
servants cannot command
success
and God does not bind himself by an absolute promise to grant success
to the best-conducted affairs. But it is undoubtedly the duty of servants to
take the most likely means to promote the prosperity of their masters
and to
seek the Divine blessing upon those affairs that are committed to them. By such
behaviour
they are likely to prove blessings to their masters
and to attain
that favour and confidence which they take pains to deserve. But if they should
be ungratefully treated by their masters according to the flesh
they have a
master in heaven who will by no means suffer them to want their due reward.
Masters may likewise learn from this passage
what treatment is due to faithful
servants. They ought to trust
to honour
and to love them. Potiphar was a
stranger to the family of Israel
and yet he loved Joseph for his fidelity
and
honoured him as the instrument of God’s providential blessings to himself.
Christian masters have far stronger motives to honour Christian servants
whom
they know to be not only servants
but above servants
brethren partakers of
the same heavenly blessings and dignities with themselves. (G. Lawson
D. D.)
Lessons
1. God’s favour to His servants maketh them to be favoured by men.
2. Grace in the eyes of men and rulers justly gotten
is a blessing
desirable here below.
3. A gracious Joseph may be an Egyptian’s favourite.
4. Favour with men of place usually draws favourites nearer to
themselves.
5. Gradual is the preferment which Providence ordereth to His saints
from men.
6. Grace
prudence
and fidelity win hearts of great men to trust
strangers rather than their own.
7. Providence ordereth lowest slavery the way to greatest oversight
in greatest charges (Genesis 39:4).
8. The time of doing good and lifting up saints
is the time of good
to them that do it.
9. Jehovah himself rewardeth the good done unto His servants.
10. All outward blessings in the house and in the field are the
blessings of God.
11. The gracious ones of God are the means of procuring blessing to
all where they dwell.
12. Those rulers best provide for families
and states
who commit
affairs to faithful ones (Genesis 39:5).
13. Faithfulness in servants worketh confidence in their rulers.
14. It is the rare commendation of gracious servants
that the hearts
of masters may be secure in them. (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Verses 9-12
How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
--
Joseph’s resistance
We are accustomed to admire the mere act of resistance to
temptation
by whomsoever and howsoever offered. But there is a vast difference
between the ways in which temptation is resisted. Some
knowing the thing
desired of them to be essentially wrong
have recourse to cowardly shifts and
evasions. They are unable to comply; thus much they will answer; but for this
inability they will render all sorts of secondary and insufficient reasons
and
keep back the right one. How very different from this weak and ineffectual
course is the refusal of one who fearlessly states at once the right and master
reason why he should not yield to temptation: “How can I do this great wickedness
and sin against God?” One of the lowest advantages of the brave and decided
course is that such a person has the least trouble after all. His place is
ascertained; his colours are shown. He is no waverer
and the crowd of busy
mischief-makers cease from him and let him alone. The noble words of our text
let us into the whole secret of endurance.
I. The answer of
Joseph implies A SENSE OF DIRECT ACCOUNTABLENESS TO GOD. This sense of
responsibility leads at once to a truer estimate of right and wrong. While we
tarry on the level of the world’s maxims and habits
and try to decide our line
of conduct
many a matter seems ambiguous and difficult to determine; but rise
to the throne of God
and look down from thence
and all is clear. Oh for that
second and better nature
sprung from the habit of seeing God in everything
which
when doubts
when questionings
when temptations arise
asks counsel at
once of Him
runs into the strong tower of His name
and is safe.
II. This answer
implies A SENSE OF SIN. Sin is a word of which the world knows not the meaning.
Men must know what God is
or they cannot know what sin is. When Joseph spoke
of sinning against God
he used this term of a positive and definite God
who
had manifested Himself
and with whom he was in covenant. To sin against Him
to break His positive command
was to reject and despise his covenant God; to
tread under foot His promises and His mercies.
III. This reply
shows that TRUE COURAGE AND SEASONABLE BOLDNESS which ever characterize the
genuine soldier of heaven. In every occupation of life
in all intercourse
in
toil and in recreation
our Christian armour should be worn
and never be laid
aside. The moment our allegiance is tested
the moment that the world requires
what God forbids or forbids what God requires
we must stand to our arms
and
admit no thought of a surrender. (Dean Alford.)
The temptation of Joseph
I. THE STRENGTH
OF IT.
1. His youth.
2. The force of opportunity.
3. The prospect of advancement which his compliance would secure.
4. The repetition of the temptation (Genesis 39:10).
II. His RESISTANCE
OF IT.
1. He pleads the law of honour.
2. He pleads the law of chastity.
3. He pleads the law of piety.
III. HIS VICTORY
OVER IT.
1. Obtained by flight.
2. Obtained through loss. (T. H. Leale.)
Tempted but triumphant
I. THE MAGNITUDE
OF THE TEMPTATION.
1. It came on Joseph when he was dwelling among a nation of
idolaters
away from the restraints of home and the influence of his father and
grandfather
by which he had been accustomed to be regulated. If
therefore
his piety had been a mere conventional thing
he would certainly have yielded
as many others in like circumstances have done. Which of us has not known cases
of youths who at home were reputable and well behaved
but who
when they have
gone to another city or another land
where they were entirely unknown to those
by whom they were surrounded
have run riot in iniquity
and excused themselves
by quoting the debasing proverb that “when we are in Rome we must do as they do
at Rome”? But Joseph was not a youth of that sort. His piety was not a matter
of longitude and latitude. He believed in God
and sought to serve Him in all
places and in all cases; and he did in Egypt precisely as he would have done
in like circumstances
in Canaan.
2. Again
this temptation which came upon him thus
when he was away
from all external support
took him in two points of his nature at one and the
same time. It appealed to appetite; and if Paul thought it needful to say to
Timothy
who was a young man of rather ascetic habits
devoted to the ministry
of the gospel
and surrounded by all wholesome influences
“flee also youthful
lusts
” we may well believe that Joseph was not insensible to its force in that
particular. But that was not its most seductive aspect
as I believe
to him.
For the entering into this intrigue meant also for him the putting of Potiphar
ultimately out of the way
and his own elevation
in an easy and speedy
fashion
to his master’s place. That must be clear to all acquainted with
Eastern life.
II. Nor can we
help remarking on THE GROUNDS WHEREON HE BASED HIS CONDUCT
for they show as
really his fidelity to man as his loyalty to God. He could not be guilty of
treachery against Potiphar
or of sin against God.
His own pleasure or elevation would be too dearly purchased by
ingratitude to one who had placed such unlimited confidence in him
and no
gratification could to him be lasting which dishonoured God.
III. LESSONS.
1. When we have unusual blessing we may look for severe temptation.
2. When temptation takes us
we must resist it with a strong and
decided No
and carefully take ourselves out of its range. It is dangerous to
drive restive horses near the edge of a precipice; it is dangerous to bring
gunpowder near the fire; it is dangerous to come near an adder’s fang; and it
is equally so with these fallen natures of ours to approach temptation.
Therefore “avoid it
pass not by it
turn from it and pass away.” But the
merely negative attitude will
after all
be weak
and so I stay here a moment
longer to add that the best means of saying “no” to sin is to say “yes” with
the whole heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you wish to dispel the darkness
you will bring in a light; if you desire to kill weeds most effectively you
will sow the ground with wholesome grass; and in like manner
if you would keep
evil out of your hearts you must get the Lord Jesus Christ into them.
3. We should not be surprised to find that our adherence to the
right is followed at first by great hardship. But when we find ourselves in
such circumstances
what is to be done? Nothing
but wait God’s time and
persevere in our integrity. We must not judge God for what we see of His
providence on a small scale. We must take wide views of it
and when we do that
we shall find that in the long run He brings forth men’s righteousness as the
light and their judgment as the noonday
so that the evil-doer is punished and
the virtuous man rewarded. (William M. Taylor
D. D.)
Joseph’s temptation
I. Joseph DID
WELL when he incurred his master’s displeasure
and lost his honourable and
responsible situation.
II. Joseph’s
resistance of the temptation by which he was tried
is wonderfully instructive.
HE REFUSED. He does not appear either to have parleyed with temptation
or
conferred a moment with flesh and blood.
III. Observe
further
it was not one single temptation which Joseph had to withstand. It is
said of his tempter
SHE SPOKE UNTO HIM DAY BY DAY. But it was all in vain.
That principle is eminently strong which can resist repeated and continual
solicitation to transgress. As the constant dropping wears away the hard stone;
so the firmest resolution is sometimes worn out before never-ending temptation.
But almost in every instance
where this has been the case
there has been
either undue self-confidence
or a want of due circumspection and watchfulness.
IV. Look
in the
next place
at THE TEMPORAL CONSEQUENCES TO JOSEPH OF HIS UPRIGHT DEALING. His
wicked tempter became his false accuser.
V. Look now
for
a moment
at Joseph in prison. We are not told of any attempt that he made to
justify himself
or to clear his character of the hark stain which so falsely
had been cast upon it. HE COMMITTED HIMSELF TO HIM THAT JUDGETH RIGHTEOUSLY. (C.
Overton.)
Joseph’s great victory
The nobleness of Joseph stands out to any one who has purity
enough and heart-honesty enough to study the picture. Why not speak to
Potiphar
as he had spoken to Jacob
when the sons of the bond-women tempted
him? Because the man with whom God was
was a man of high honour and charity.
Joseph would not rob the poor
passionate heathen woman of the last chance of
regaining her own self-respect.
1. There are such monsters in society still. The origin of impurity
is
indeed
much more frequently with men
but there are women who deliberately
seek to compass the ruin of youths by assailing them with subtle and flattering
temptations. Solomon’s picture of “the strange woman “ is still true to fact.
All classes of society have still their Cleopatras.
2. It is God’s Book that tells of Potiphar’s wife. Read the first
seven chapters of Proverbs at a sitting
and seek out the words
not few
of
the holy Saviour touching this thing. Those who are too nice to read such pages
are apt to be very nasty within; there is no impurity in the exposure of sin
but there may be plenty of impurity with the affectation of avoiding the
mention of it.
3. God’s greatest servants are
like Joseph those who have preserved
their purity. (A. M. Symington
D. D.)
Lessons
1. Times of advance in the world may prove times of most dangerous
assaults of temptation to saints.
2. God’s blessings at home and abroad prove occasions of sin unto
naughty hearts.
3. Unclean hearts have their times to set their eyes on wicked
works.
4. Treacherous lust may turn a wife from a husband to a servant.
5. Unclean hearts and eyes will easily make unclean tongues. (G.
Hughes
B. D.)
Lessons
1. Grace kept to work refuseth with disdain the strongest
temptations to uncleanness.
2. Gracious hearts are ready to return saving instruction for
unclean suggestion to the tempter.
3. It is rational as well as Christian to all unclean tempters to
consider reason.
4. Confidence anti-trust of lords in their servants should make them
more faithful
and unwilling to injure them (Genesis 39:8).
5. Power delegated to largest bounds should be improved to the
greatest good of superiors.
6. Power despotical may be delegated to others
but marital
or
husband power to none.
7. Conjugal covenant maketh the power of man and wife reciprocal.
8. Breach of marriage covenant by adultery is most grievous
wickedness.
9. Treacherous adultery carrieth a special malignity against God
and is observed by Him.
10. True religion towards God makes men fear to sin
and provoke the
eyes of His glory (Genesis 39:9). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Lessons
1. The times of men’s exercise about their honest employments may
prove their seasons of temptation to them.
2. Absence of witnesses and such as may hinder lust is a fair
opportunity for it.
3. Providence ordereth both these together sometimes
to try His
own
and discry wicked hearts (Genesis 39:11).
4. Lustful hearts upon such occasions grow impudent to tempt by word
and deed.
5. Whorish lust catcheth garments
holds bodies
and ensnares souls
with its temptations.
6. Gracious souls rather loose their garments
then endanger their
graces.
7. Grace flieth from temptation
when it cannot cease it and make it
still.
8. Grace chooseth to be out of doors with innocency rather than in
the house with sin (Genesis 39:12). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
Joseph: the victory of conscience and faith over impulse and
opportunity
I. THINE OF THE
CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MIGHT HAVE MADE IT EASY FOR HIM TO SUCCUMB TO THE
TEMPTATION.
1. He was young.
2. He was away from home. Young men
you may escape the eye of an
earthly parent
but you cannot escape the eye of God (Psalms 139:7-12).
3. Joseph might have pleaded that the consequences of his sin would
be favour and advancement
while the consequences of his resistance would be
in all likelihood
irretrievable disgrace.
II. CONSIDER THE
WAY IN WHICH JOSEPH
INSTEAD OF YIELDING TO THE PRESSURE OF THESE
CIRCUMSTANCES
MET AND OVERCAME THE TEMPTATION WHICH ASSAILED HIM. Did not
allow his youth
or distance from home
or possible consequences
to blind him
to the true nature of the proposal which was made to him. Did not beat about
the bush and endeavour to sophisticate himself into the belief that wrong was
right. Did not try to mitigate the evil by talking about sin
as if it were
merely a folly
or a pardonable indiscretion. How then did he fortify himself
against the enticement to evil?
1. By calling things by their right names. He had not learned to say
that bitter was sweet
or darkness light. He had not so lived as to bedim or
distort his spiritual vision. And so he blurted out the truth at once
and
called the act to which he was invited
“This great wickedness.” There is no
more mischievous maxim than that which finds expression in the saying of Burke:
“Vice itself lost half its evil by losing all its grossness.” It is when “Satan
is transformed into an angel of light
” that his power is most deadly. He who
has learned to call the sin to which he is tempted “This great wickedness
” has
already won half the battle.
2. By remembering that all wrong-doing is sin against God. It may be
sin against self also
and sin against our fellows
but this it most assuredly
is--sin against God. The faith which utters itself in these words was the
source at once of the insight which enabled Joseph to perceive the true nature
of the temptation
and of the strength in which he was able to overcome it. A
man who has cultivated the habit of referring everything to God is not easily
deceived by the appearance of things. He lives and walks in the light of truth.
He is able to bring all things to the one test--is it or is it not pleasing to
God? This
the one adequate motive of a true life. (J. R. Bailey.)
Sin avoided by considerations of God
The meaning
the force of this language lies almost entirely in
the word
God. And O how many reasons
why we should not sin against Him
are
wrapped up in this one word?
1. God
you may understand the good man as saying
is a Being of
perfect
of infinite excellence. His works as well as His word
assure me that
He is so.
2. God is my Creator. He is the former of my body
the Father of my
spirit. As such He is my nearest relative. How then can I sin against Him?
3. God is my Preserver and Benefactor. He has watched over me and
preserved me every moment since my existence commenced. He has shielded me from
ten thousand evils and dangers. He has preserved me
while multitudes of my
coevals have perished. He is preserving me at this moment.
4. God is my rightful Sovereign. As my Creator and Proprietor
He
has the best of all possible titles to control me.
5. God is the providential
as well as moral Governor of the
universe
and the sole Dispenser of all blessings
natural and spiritual. As
such I am constantly dependent on Him for everything which I need. I am in His
hands; as He has given
so He can take away
all that I possess.
6. God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. As such He so loved
our ruined race
that He gave His only begotten Son to die for its salvation.
He gave Him to die for me
for my relatives
for my fellow-creatures. He has
done and suffered more for us than any earthly friend would or could have done.
Now if I consent to sin
I shall crucify afresh this Saviour; I shall dishonour
and offend and grieve the Father who gave Him to die for me. And how can I do
this? How can I requite Him evil for good? (E. Payson
D. D.)
The fight for social purity
Nothing thrills like a battle. Each man is a born fighter. The
necessity of struggle is laid upon us
and therefore
our sympathies are rarely
stretched to further tension than by the sight of contests
which are the types
and prophecies of our own. Even the names of old fields of carnage and strife
are still electric. Joseph’s fight for social purity is one of the best known
of “the decisive battles of the world.” The grand out-leap of defiant refusal to
do wrong of this young warrior has seized and held the imagination of mankind
for ages. The sudden and complete moral recoil of this gallant knight of purity
from the defiling touch of the depraved adulteress
who has been dogging his
steps and laying her sensual bait day by day
has passed into the imperishable
stores of the world’s moral force.
I. “How can I do
this great wickedness and sin against God?” At once we recognise the presence
of the Holy God in this scene. He is its light and glory
its power and
victory. God the Holy fills the entire field of vision
and Joseph is
strengthened with might in the inner man by an all-pervading awe of Him. His
heart throbs with a vehement solicitude not to offend God
not to violate His
will
or in the slightest particular displease Him. That is the fire that burns
with such scorching heat in these words. That is the flame that leaps up in his
heart in cleansing force. That is the source of the mighty passion by which in
a moment
and at one throw
he flings far behind him the corrupting bait of the
temptress. It is not hatred of the woman
though that might have been excused.
It is not anxiety for his own reputation first and foremost
though that is not
without its influence. It is not even solicitude
before all things
to
maintain his integrity in his trust as the steward of Potiphar
though that too
operates with great and decisive energy; but it is the recognition of God. He
cannot sin against Him. There is the impassable barrier! That Sacred Presence
for ever block the way! This Authority ruling in and for righteousness utterly
shuts out all possibility of yielding
and impels the tempted man
at lightning
speed
from the neighbourhood of danger. Whatever
then
may be our final
judgment as to the place of “the fear of God
” i.e.
of the reverent dread of
disobeying His word
in a pure
noble
and consecrated life
it cannot be
denied that one main element in Joseph’s conquering power. It is not the whole
of it
by any means; but it is one facet of the many-sided life; one source
from whence he obtains his irresistible might; one auxiliary to his steadfast
purity. Fellow soldiers
I cannot feel that fear of doing wrong
and dread of
not doing all we ought
are obsolete as working forces in life! I know too much
of the subtlety of evil
of the difficulty of working on the higher ranges of
Christian service from motives absolutely pure and untainted by self-seeking
and vanity
the ease with which the spirit slides into doubt and despair of
God
and forgets the fulness of His promises and presence
of the possibilities
of secret sins; and I have seen too much of those who “profess and call
themselves Christians
” not to welcome with all my soul the Divine caution
“Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall
” by a shot from an
unseen foe
by mistaking a traitor for an angel of light
by opening the gates
of Mansoul to some of the King’s enemies
or by collapse of power through long
and wearisome watchings with an ill-fed and ill-nourished spirit. Sublime men
are only made by sublime motives; and of motives
“Love is lord of all.” “Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God” is the first and great commandment
and the second
comes a long way after it; but it does come
it must come
for love and fear
are the positive and negative poles of the same electric bar
and are both
forces convertible into aids to holiness. Love rules the home
and its sunshine
is the life of all who dwell therein; but fear of marring the domestic peace
spoiling the domestic purity
or poisoning the domestic joy
is a temper that
pervades and chastens
hallows and enlarges the household life. Our soldiers
fight for the love of country; but how unspeakably they are goaded forward in
the severity of battle by the dread of losing their country’s flag I In the
finest types of married life
it is not till years of perfect communion and
character-assimilating love have made husband and wife a complete unity
and
blent soul with soul
and will with will
that all fear is gone--if indeed it
ever is. Certainly
in the earlier stages it is a spur to that continual and
anxious attention to aid
and not to hinder
in developing the one life
which
finally becomes the gracious habit and beautiful form of the domestic ministry.
“Wherefore
” we Christians
“having received a kingdom which cannot be shaken
let us have the grace of thankfulness
whereby we may offer service
well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
“Following after peace with all men
and the sanctification without which no
man shall see the Lord: looking carefully lest there be any man that falleth
short of the grace of God.” It is not
then
too late in the world’s history to
fall back on the element of fear of doing wickedness and sinning against God
as
an available power in the recoil from evil. Too late! Assuredly not!
II. Notice
again
this passage gives evidence of a large access of energy to Joseph’s conscience
from his PERFECT IDENTIFICATION OF GOD WITH HIS OWN PERSONAL PURITY. “By
faith
” i.e.
by an act of the moral imagination
he places himself
instantly in the realized presence of God
and the temptation becomes
appallingly hideous to him
simply because it is a solicitation to sin against
his God. It is also “a great wickedness” against his kind and confiding master
a grave and irreparable wrong to himself
an unpardonable blow to the guilty
woman
a crime against society; but it is first and foremost a sin against God.
“How then
” he reasons
his soul melted into one stream of fiery logic
“how
then
can I do it?” Impossible! Come what may of resistance--expulsion
imprisonment
death--all must be faced and borne rather than yield. God and
Purity are one. I cannot detach myself from Him; I dare not
I will not”; and
in a moment
in the twinkling of an eye
the battle is over
the victory won;
and having taken fast hold of purity
and not let her go
she gives the light
and cheer of the Divine presence in the prison
at length opens the dungeon
gates
advances him to honour
and finally places this brave soldier of purity
on the throne of national usefulness. Surely we may add a verse to the eleventh
of Hebrews
and say
“By faith Joseph
when he was tempted in the house of his
master
resisted
not fearing the consequences of his act
for he endured as
seeing Him who is invisible.”
III. Joseph
differed from Jacob in that he had no Bethel visions
and from Abraham in that
hearing the Divine voice
but he had the DIVINE FACTS OF LIFE AND IN THEM BE
READ THE IDEAS AND WILL OF GOD. The oldest of all Bibles
the Bible of human
experience was opened before him
and he read
marked
learnt
and inwardly
digested its contents
and found it profitable for correction
for discipline
for reproof
and for instruction in righteousness
furnishing him with some
real aid
for his good works. It is a bad use of the written Bible which blinds
us to the teaching of home
hides us from the heavenly meanings of marriage
and closes against us the libraries of national movement and history. Our
Scripture
brief as it is
has this peerless excellence
that it sets all our
institutions
the Church
State
City
hamlet
marriage
and family life all in
God. They are Divine; based on a Divine plan
intended to achieve Divine
results. Every man’s life is sacred
for there is a Divine idea to be fulfilled
in it--the idea of purity
and self-control
of sweetness and strength
of
character and service.
Underlying marriage there is a thought of God
and in all the
offices of mutual love
in the reasons for forbearance and patience
in the
occasions of suffering and sympathy
this life-union is tending to inspire
self-suppression
develop tender affection
nourish purity
and put ease and
grace into our human life. Joseph
accordingly
read in his office of steward
God’s prohibition of purity
saying
“How then; seeing the place I fill
the
duty I am bound to discharge
and the confidence reposed in me
how then can I
do this great wickedness and sin against God!” (J. Clifford D. D.)
How is sin the most formidable evil?
I. THAT
TEMPTATIONS TO SIN
HOW ALLURING SOEVER OR TERRIFYING
ARE TO BE REJECTED WITH
ABHORRENCE. There will be convincing proof of this by considering two things:
1. That sin
considered in itself
is the greatest evil. This will
be evident by considering the general nature of it
as directly opposite to God
the Supreme Good. The definition of sin expresses its essential evil: it is
“the transgression of the” Divine “law” (1 John 3:4); and consequently
opposes the rights of God’s throne
and obscures the glory of His attributes
that are exercised in the moral government of the world.
2. Sin
relatively to us
is the most pernicious and destructive
evil. If we compare it with temporal evils
it preponderates all that men are
liable to in the present world. Diseases in our bodies
disasters in our
estates
disgrace in our reputation
are
in just esteem
far less evil than
the evil of sin; for that corrupts and destroys our more excellent and immortal
part: the vile body is of no account in comparison of the precious soul.
Therefore the apostle enforces his exhortation: “Dearly beloved” brethren
“I
beseech you
abstain from fleshly lusts
which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11). The issue of this war
is infinitely more woeful than of the most cruel against our bodies and goods
our liberties and lives: for our estates and freedom
if lost may be recovered;
if the present life be lost for the cause of God
it shall be restored in
greater lustre and perfection
but if the soul be lost
it is lost for ever.
This being a point of great usefulness
that I may be more
instructive
I will consider the evils that are consequential to sin under
these two heads:--
1. The evils that proceed immediately by emanation from it. And
though some of them are not resented with feeling apprehensions by sinners
yet
they are of a fearful nature. Sin has deprived man of the purity
nobility
and
peace of his innocent state.
2. I will consider the evils consequent to sin as the penal effects
of the sentence against sin
of Divine justice that decrees it
and Divine
power that inflicts it. And in these the sinner is often an active instrument
of his own misery.
II. I SHALL NOW
APPLY THIS DOCTRINE
BY REFLECTING THE LIGHT OF IT UPON OUR MINDS AND HEARTS.
1. This discovers how perverse and depraved the minds and wills of
men are
to choose sin rather than affliction
and break the Divine law for the
obtaining of temporal things.
2. From hence we may be instructed of the wonderful patience of God
who bears with a world of sinners
that are obnoxious His justice
and under
His power every day.
3. The consideration of the evil of sin
so great in itself
and
pernicious to us
heightens our obligations to the Divine mercy
in “saving us
from our sins
” and an everlasting hell
the just punishment of them.
4. The consideration of the evil of sin
in itself and to us
should
excite us with a holy circumspection to keep ourselves from being defiled with
2:5. The consideration of the evil of sin is a powerful motive to our solemn
and speedy repentance. (W. Bates
D. D.)
Under temptation
I. HERE IS A GOOD
MAN SEVERELY TEMPTED. Temptation suits itself to every age
to every state of
mind
to every temperament.
1. There is temptation to intellectual unbelief.
2. There is temptation to flattery.
3. There is the temptation to sensual lust. In every young man there
is a sharp conflict between conscience and the animal nature. The enchantress
was decked in her best. Scarcely concealed among the roses was the foul
serpent.
II. WE SEE A GOOD
MAN INVINCIBLE.
1. The source of goodness is inexhaustible. The right principle and
goodness Joseph had came from God
and God can give more. The Divine supply has
never failed
just as the harvest-fields of earth have never given out.
2. A sense of God’s presence unmasks sin. Sin always wears some
disguise
Naked sin is so ugly and repulsive that it would never succeed
without gay and plausible masking. God’s presence is light
and shines through
all disguise.
3. A sense of God’s presence makes us valiant. It had been Joseph’s
habit to take God with him in every walk of life. This made him calm
contented
patient
strong. Our only safety is in God.
III. WE SEE A GOOD
MAN BARELY MALIGNED. The spirit of wickedness has great vitality. Like
Briareus
the fabled monster of the deep
it has fifty heads and a hundred
arms. Foiled in one diabolical scheme
it instantly attempts another. The
passion of this gay woman was as changeful as it was base. In a moment it
passes into the blackest hatred
and plots the ruin of Joseph by lying and by
slander. Men would wag their heads and say
“Ah
there’s something in it.” He
has a thousand adversaries. Only conscience and God and friendly angels are
left: his good name has passed under eclipse.
IV. WE SEE A GOOD
MAN SACRIFICING HIMSELF FOR OTHERS.
1. Silence is dignified. Self-defence is always more or less
weakness. Let men learn not to be over hasty in their judgments. Appearances
often deceive; silence is hoarded strength.
2. The effect of our conduct on others ought always to be
considered. Had Joseph published abroad this woman’s guilt
it may have
involved her in sudden death. If she had any heart left
the silence and
endurance of Joseph must have touched it.
3. Self-sacrifice is a rare virtue.
V. WE SEE A GOOD
MAN GRIEVOUSLY OPPRESSED. (J. Dickerson Davies
M. A.)
Joseph’s remonstrance
The first attack upon him is repelled with a modest but severe
remonstrance
exactly suited to his situation. Let us examine it minutely.
There are four things in it worthy of admiration.
1. He is silent with respect to the wickedness of the tempter
tie
might have reproached her for the indelicacy
the infidelity
and the baseness
of her proposal; but he confines himself to what respected his own obligation
and what would be his own sin. In the hour of temptation it is enough for us to
look to ourselves. It is remarkable that all our Lord’s answers to the tempter
as recorded in the fourth chapter of Matthew
are in this way. He could have
accused him of insolence
and outrage; but He barely refuses to follow his
counsels
because thus and thus it was written.
2. He considers his obligation as rising in proportion to his high
station: “There is none greater in this house than I.” Some young men would
have drawn a contrary conclusion from the same premises
and on this ground
have thought themselves entitled to take the greater liberties; but this is the
true use to be made of power
and riches
and every kind of trust.
3. He considers it as heightened by the generosity and kindness of
his master
who withheld nothing else from him. Eve reasoned at first on this
principle (Genesis 3:2)
and had she kept to it
she
had been safe. When we are tempted to covet what God has forbidden
it were
well to think of the many things which He has not forbidden
but freely given
us.
4. He rises from created to uncreated authority: It would not only
be treachery to my master
but “wickedness
great wickedness
and sin against
God.” In the hour of temptation it is of infinite importance what view we take
of the evil to which we are tempted. If we suffer our thoughts to dwell on its
agreeableness
as Eve did concerning the forbidden fruit
its sinfulness will
insensibly diminish in our sight
a number of excuses will present themselves
and we shall inevitably be carried away by it; but if we keep our eye
steadfastly on the holy will of God
and the strong obligations we are under to
Him
that which would otherwise appear a little thing
will be accounted what
it is
a great wickedness
and we shall revolt at the idea of sinning against
Him. This is the armour of God wherewith we shall stand in the evil day. (A.
Fuller.)
Joseph’s temptation
That the temptation was in any degree to the sensual side of his
nature there is no evidence whatever. For all that the narrative says
Potiphar’s wife may not have been attractive in person. She may have been; and
as she used persistently
“day by day
” every art and wile by which she could
lure Joseph to her mind
in some of his moods and under such circumstances as
she would study to arrange he may have felt even this element of the
temptation. But it is too little observed
and especially by young men who have
most need to observe it
that in such temptations it is not only what is
sensual that needs to be guarded against
but also too much deeper-lying tendencies--the
craving for loving recognition
and the desire to respond to the feminine love
for admiration and devotion. The latter tendency may not seem dangerous
but I
am sure that if an analysis could be made of the broken hearts and
shame-crushed lives around us
it would be found that a large proportion of
misery is due to a kind of uncontrolled and mistaken chivalry. Men of masculine
make are prone to show their regard for women. This regard
when genuine and
manly
will show itself in purity of sympathy and respectful attention. But
when this regard is debased by a desire to please and ingratiate oneself
men
are precipitated into the unseemly expression of a spurious manhood. The other
craving--the craving for love--acts also in a somewhat latent way. It is this
craving which drives men to seek to satisfy themselves with the expressions of
love
as if thus they could secure love itself. They do not distinguish between
the two; they do not recognise that what they most deeply desire is love
rather than the expression of it; and they awake to find that precisely in so
far as they have accepted the expression without the sentiment
in so far have
they put love itself beyond their reach. This temptation was
in Joseph’s case
aggravated by his being in a foreign country
unrestrained by the expectations
of his own family
or by the eye of those he loved. He had
however
that which
restrained him
and made the sin seem to him an impossible wickedness
the
thought of which he could not
for a moment
entertain. To disregard the rights
of his master seemed to Joseph a great wickedness and sin against God. The
treachery of the sin strikes him; his native discernment of the true rights of
every party in the case cannot
for a moment
be hoodwinked. He is not a man
who can
even in the excitement of temptation
overlook the consequences his
sin may have on others. Not unsteadied by the flattering solicitations of one
so much above him in rank
nor sullied by the contagion of her vehement
passion; neither afraid to incur the resentment of one who so regarded him
nor
kindled to any impure desire by contact with her blazing lust; neither
scrupling thoroughly to disappoint her in himself
nor to make her feel her own
great guilt
he flung from him the strong inducements that seemed to net him
round and entangle him as his garment did
and tore himself
shocked and
grieved
from the beseeching hand of his temptress. (M. Dods
D. D.)
Joseph’s arguments against sin
Joseph abhorred such impiety
and with most good and godly
arguments repelleth the temptation.
1. The first drawn from ingratitude and unfaithfulness. As if he
should have said
being trusted as I am
and preferred in my master’s house as
I am
it were the greatest unfaithfulness
and the foulest ingratitude that
might be
in this sort to requite my master’s favours
and so great favours
towards me. Therefore I may not do it; for I abhor to be unfaithful where I am
trusted
or unthankful where I am regarded and done for. Here then is a servant
of servants
if we think of our days
here is a jewel more worth than gold
and
a pearl of price for a man’s house; faithful and thankful
what wish we more.
2. His second argument is drawn from the marriage knot that ought to
hold till death doth part. A married woman must have a married mind
that as
her body by orderly course is appropriated unto one
so her mind must be also
to the same
and to none other.
3. His third argument is drawn from the nature of the sin
it is a
great wickedness to touch another man’s wife; and as all wickedness should be
abhorred. So great wickedness greatly abhorred.
4. His last argument is drawn from the love of God. Thus should I
sin
saith he
against God
which how may I do? As if he should have said
I
love God who hath ever loved me
and my love admitteth no such requital.
Many and many are the sweet mercies that I have found at His hand
if I should
tell all
and how then should I sin against Him? (Bp. Babington.)
Love and trust protecting against temptation
You all know what affection for and trust in a person have done in
common life to produce prompt decision and persistent action. Every scholar
remembers the instance of that true wife
Penelope
who for long years turned
away suitors for her hand
and was ultimately rewarded by the return of
Ulysses
who had manifested a constancy and affection that were equal to her
own. Now
if in domestic life such effects are produced by these two
principles
love and trust--which are not so much two as one working in two
different ways--may we not believe that by the grace of the Holy Spirit
personal attachment to the Lord Jesus Christ and implicit trust in Him
will
give us quickness of sight to see what He would have us to do
and firmness of
purpose to do that with our might. Nothing is so clear-sighted as love. It is
on the alert at the approach of the slightest danger; and if only we take care
to continue in the love of Christ
that will keep us right
for it will reveal
the tempter to us even under his most cunning disguise
and give us courage and
firmness to withstand him. Nay
more
let us but have the love of Christ strong
within us
and we shall not think that there is anything like a sacrifice or a
hardship in saying “ no “ to sin
for we shall have no hankering after that
which He disapproves. Our refusal to sin will be
then
only the outworking of
our satisfaction with Him; the consequence of our delight in Him
and not the
result of any outward compulsion. Here
young man
is the key to the whole
position; fill the heart with Christ and when the tempter comes he will find it
so preoccupied that there is no room in it for him and his seduction. (W. M.
Taylor
D. D.)
The true motive for well-doing
Not for what we can make by it
or for what it is worth
but for
what it is
and for its relationship to God
let us do the right
and we may
rest assured
however it may be now
that in the end we shall be on the winning
side. We may have to go through a prison to the final issue
or we may need to
step up to it from a cross
but we shall be on the winning side
for character
is success--not position
not prosperity
not reputation--but character
and it
is made and hardened and tempered in the fire of trial. Leave the reputation
and success
then
to look after themselves
and be not disconcerted if they
should both be for a time under a cloud; but look well to the character
for
that is the main thing
and the life that secures that for Christ is always
worth living. (W. M. Taylor
D. D.)
The position and morals of Egyptian women
In the East females live in separate apartments
but the monuments
prove that in Egypt they mingled freely in society
and were under no peculiar
restraint. Egyptian parties are frequently depicted in the temples
and “in
some instances
” says Wilkinson
“we find both men and women sitting together
both strangers as well as members of the same family--a privilege not conceded
to females among the Greeks
except with their relations.” Nor do the monuments
speak favourably of the morals of the Egyptian women. “That they were not
restricted
” says the same writer
“in the use of wine
and in the enjoyment of
other luxuries
is evident from the frescoes which represent their feasts; and
the painters
in illustrating this fact
have sometimes sacrificed their
gallantry to a love of caricature. Some call their servants to support them as
they sit
others with difficulty prevent themselves from falling on those
behind them; a basin is brought too late by a reluctant servant
and the faded
flower which is ready to drop from their heated hands
is intended to be
characteristic of their own sensations. (Thornley Smith.)
Temptation resisted
She saw Joseph
she loved him
and said unto him
lie with me. Her
eyes ensnared her heart
and she lost her modesty
as well as every other
virtue. She must have been lost to all sense of shame
when she so barefacedly
tempted Joseph to violate her chastity. Joseph was now in a dangerous
situation. Few young men would have resisted the strong temptation which he was
enabled to encounter. How easily did his brother Judah
in a more advanced
period of life
fall before a temptation
which
in the comparison
was very
small. We may say of Joseph
that there were few like him in all the earth. Sin
spread out before him its strongest attractions-pleasure and profit. It drew up
the most formidable terrors in battle-array
but none of all these things moved
Joseph. He held fast his integrity
and would not let it go
for his heart was
mightily fortified by the fear of God
and he was powerfully supported by that
grace” which is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before
the presence of the Divine glory with exceeding joy.” (G. Lawson
D. D)
Joseph
the model realizer of God’s presence
I. In the first
place
when Joseph realized God’s presence he found in it COMPLY IN HIS
LONELINESS. One of the best and holiest men that ever lived was Henry Martyn
the English missionary to Persia. In carrying on his work there
he had many
long and lonely journeys to take. But how sweetly he realized God’s presence
as giving him company in his loneliness
is seen in these beautiful lines
which were found after his death
written on one of the blank leaves of the
Bible that he carried with him wherever he went.
“In
desert woods
with Thee
my God
Where
human footsteps never trod
How
happy could I be!
Thou
my repose from care
my light
Amid
the darkness of the night--
In
solitude my company.”
And how many of God’s dear children have realized His presence in
just the same way! Here are some illustrations of this. This incident was told
by one of our chaplains in the late war. “I went into a tent connected with the
general hospital one day
” says he. “There
on one of the beds
lay a beautiful
drummer-boy
about sixteen years of age
burning up with fever.
‘Where is your home
my young friend?’ I asked. ‘In Massachusetts
sir
’ was his reply. ‘And do you not feel very lonely here
so far away from
your father and mother
and all your friends
and so sick as you are?’ I never
can forget
” says the chaplain
“the sweet smile that lighted up his deep blue
eyes
and played over his fevered lips
as he said
in answer to my question
‘Oh
no
sir. How can I feel lonely when Jesus is with me?’” That dear boy was
realizing God’s presence in just the way of which we are speaking; and he found
company in it. There was an old Christian gentleman
who had been for many
years a successful merchant. He was once very well off
and had been surrounded
by a happy family. But he had failed in business
and was left very poor. His
wife and children had all died. In poverty and loneliness he had to spend the
closing years of his life. A Christian friend
who used to call and see him
occasionally
was talking with him one day
and said
“Well
I hope Jesus
visits you sometimes.” “Visits me sometimes?” said the old man
“why
He lives
with me at all times!” And so
in realizing the presence of that blessed
Saviour
he found company in his loneliness. And if we follow the model which
Joseph sets before us
it will bring this blessing to us; and we shall find
company in our loneliness.
II. In the second
place
as he realized God’s presence
Joseph found--COMFORT IN TROUBLE. And we
shall find the same
just so far as we follow the model he has left us. Few
persons have had such great troubles to bear as Joseph had. And yet he bore
them bravely and cheerfully. And the secret of it was
he felt that God was
present with him all the time
and he found comfort in this thought. This gave
Joseph comfort when nothing else could have done so. And if we follow the model
which he left us
and learn to realize God’s presence
as he did
we shall find
comfort under all our troubles
in the feeling that He is with us. Let us look
at some examples of the way in which this comfort is found. A city missionary
in London used often to visit a poor old widow. She lived in a garret alone by
herself. All she had to live on was half-a-crown a week
allowed her from some
charity. This was only a little over half a dollar of our money
and was barely
enough to keep her alive. The missionary used to notice
standing on her
windowsill
an old broken tea-pot
in which a strawberry-plant was growing. He
felt interested in watching it
and seeing how it grew. One day he said to the
old woman: “I am glad to see how nicely your plant is growing. You’ll soon have
some berries ripening on it.” “I don’t care about the fruit
” she said. “It’s
not that which leads me to watch over this little plant. But I am too poor to
keep any living creature with me. And I love to have this little plant in my
room. I know it can only live and grow by the power of God. And as I look at
it
from day to day
and see it growing
it makes me feel that God is here with
me
and I find great comfort in that thought.”
III. In the third
place
Joseph found STRENGTH FOR DUTY in realizing God’s presence. And if we
follow the model he has set us we shall find the same. A brave sailor boy:--He
was a cabin-boy on board an English man-of-war. He “had a pious mother
and was
trying to be a Christian; and the story shows how the sense he had of God’s
presence strengthened him for duty under very trying circumstances
and made
him eminently useful to his shipmates and to his country. The sailors called
this boy “Cloudy.” The incident
to which I refer
took place in the midst of a
terrible naval battle between the English and the Dutch. The flagship of the
English fleet was commanded by the brave Admiral Narborough. His vessel had got
separated somehow from the rest of his fleet
and was drawn in the thickest of
the fight. Two of its masts had just been shot away
and had fallen with a
fearful crash upon the deck. The Admiral saw that all would soon be lost unless
he could bring up the rest of the ships to help him. He summoned a lot of his
men upon the quarter-deck. He could not send a boat
but he asked if any of
them would volunteer to swim through the fight
and take an order for the rest
of the fleet to come at once to his help. A dozen men offered to go; and little
Cloudy made the same offer. The Admiral smiled
when he looked at him
and
said: “Why
Cloudy
what can you do?” “I can swim
sir
as well as any of them.
You can’t spare these men from the guns
sir. It won’t make much matter if I am
killed. But I’m sure that God will take care of me. Please
sir
let me go.”
“Go
my brave lad
” said the Admiral
“and may God bless you!” He thanked the
Admiral
and running to the side of the ship
sprang over into the sea
and
struck out bravely towards the ships
which he was to order up. The men cheered
him
and then went back to their guns. The fight went on; but the Dutch were
getting the best of it. The Admiral was feeling very sadly. He did not see how
he could hold out much longer. He said to himself--“I have never hauled down
the flag of old England yet. I’d rather die than do it now. But how can I help
it?” Just then he heard a firing to the right. Looking through the clouds of
smoke that surrounded him
he saw that the brave boy had got through his long
and dangerous swim. He had delivered the order entrusted to him; and the
expected ships were coming
crowding down upon the enemy. This turned the tide
of battle. The Dutch were soon beaten
and the flag of old England was not
hauled down that day. In the evening the Admiral called his men on deck to
thank them for their brave conduct. And then
turning to Cloudy
who was also
present
he said: “And I want especially to thank you
my brave lad
for your
noble conduct. We owe this victory to you. I hope to live to see you have a
flagship of your own
some day.” And it turned out just so. That cabin-boy went
on realizing God’s presence; and this gave him strength for duty
till he was
knighted by the king
and known in the English navy as--Admiral Sir Cloudesley
Shovel. And if we follow the model that Joseph has left us
we shall find that
realizing the presence of God will be sure to give us strength for duty.
IV. And then
when
Joseph realized the presence of God
he found that it gave him--VICTORY OVER
TEMPTATION. And if we follow the model he has left us
we shall find that it
will do the same for us. The thought of God’s eye:--Emma Gray was a
Sunday-school girl
who was trying to serve the Lord Jesus Christ
and to make
herself useful. As she was going to school one day
during the week
she passed
a little boy
whose hand was thrust through the railings of a gentleman’s front
garden
trying to steal some flowers. “Oh
my little boy
” said Emma kindly
“do you think it’s right to take those flowers without asking leave?” “I only
want two or three
” said the boy
“and nobody sees me.” “You are mistaken
there
my boy. God is looking at you from yonder blue sky. He says we must not
take what does not belong to us without leave. And if you do it He will see it
and it will grieve Him.” “Then
if He’s looking at me I won’t do it
” said the
little fellow. And so
as he thought of God’s eye
or realized God’s presence
it gave him the victory over the temptation to steal those flowers. Spoiling
his trade:--A mission Sunday-school was started in a very wicked part of
London. A good many boys in that neighbourhood got their living by stealing.
Some of these boys were persuaded to go to this school. One boy
who was a
great thief
went there. After he had been going for some time
one of his
companions asked him how he liked the school. “I don’t like it at all
” said
he. “Why not?” asked his friend. “Because
you see
they are all the time
talking about God seeing you
and the like o’ that; and it just makes a fellow
feel afeard. It takes all the pluck out o’ me
I know. Many a time now
when I
see a good chance to get a hankercher
or a nice purse of money
just as I’m
going to take it
I think of that great Eye looking at me. And then I’m afeard
and have to stop. So
you see
it’s spoiling my trade. And I’ll either have to
give up going to school
or else have to learn another trade and try and get my
living in some other way.” Here we see the true effect which must always follow
from realizing God’s presence. We cannot go on doing what we know to be wrong
when we feel that God is looking at us. (R. Newton
D. D.)
Safeguards against temptation
An old writer observes that it is “the sublimity of wisdom to do
those things living which are to be desired and chosen by dying persons.” St.
Bernard expresses the same thought
but in a different form
saying
“Let every
man in the first address of his actions
consider whether
if he were now to
die
he might safely and prudently do such an act
and whether he would not be
infinitely troubled should death surprise him in the present disposition; and
then let him proceed accordingly.” This advice
if taken
would no doubt insure
resistance to temptation
for no man
unless he were enslaved to folly
would
commit a sin in the face of approaching death. But a surer help to victory over
the tempter than the thought of death
is the recollection
“Thou God seest
me!” and the question of the spirited-minded Joseph
“How can I do this great
wickedness and sin against God?”
Verses 13-18
See
he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us
The false charge against Joseph
I.
THE
BOLDNESS OF IT.
II. THE MALIGNITY
OF IT. The vengeance of disappointed passion.
III. THE ART AND
CUNNING OF IT.
IV. THE LESSONS OF
THIS HISTORY.
1. That impurity and falsehood are closely allied.
2. That God’s saints should be patient under false accusations.
3. That we should do the thing that is right in utter disregard of
all evil consequences to ourselves. (T. H. Leale.)
Lessons
1. Disappointments of lust occasion it to rage
and turn it into
madness.
2. Innocency’s flight from sin may occasion its misery.
3. Sight of lust defeated by chastity stirs up the wicked to accuse
the righteous (Genesis 39:13). (G. Hughes
B. D.)
The delicate and problematical character of circumstantial proof
There are not a few cases
in which it is the only description of
evidence which can at all be had; and sometimes it is of such a nature as to
carry as full conviction to the mind as the most direct and satisfactory
testimony. This was not
indeed
the case in the instance before us: for it
would not be difficult to institute widely different processes of hypothetical
argument on the simple fact of the mantle having been left in her possession.
There are cases
however
in which it is almost irresistibly conclusive. And
yet true it is that there have been instances in which sentence has been passed
on the ground of circumstantial evidence such has
at the time
appeared clear
beyond controversy
and has carried the fullest conviction to counsel
and
jury
and judge--in which
notwithstanding
the innocence of the party
condemned has subsequently been brought unexpectedly and strangely to light.
All that can be said
therefore
is that while it is a species of proof which
it is impossible to discard
and which it would be the height of absurdity to
speak of discarding
yet it is one which ought to be investigated with the
utmost caution and minuteness
and all delay possible afforded for subjecting
it to the test of time--so long as there seems any likelihood of new
circumstances coming to light
or of any conscience which fear may be holding
in its bonds
and by this means sealing the lips
relenting and disclosing. And
wherever there is room for the slightest doubt
the benefit of it should be
given to the accused. (R. Wardlaw
D. D)
.
Verses 19-23
But the Lord was with Joseph
and showed him mercy
and gave him
favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison
Joseph in prison
A superior man will manifest his superiority in any situation.
In slavery
in prison
in exile
his worth will be disclosed and acknowledged.
Joseph was a remarkable example of this. Though a prisoner in name
he soon was
the actual warden. I invite attention to some of the lessons taught us by the
experience and demeanour of Joseph in prison. Consider--
Joseph in prison
I. AN EXAMPLE OF
THE MYSTERIOUS WAYS OF PROVIDENCE.
II. AN EXAMPLE OF
THE STRENGTH OF GOD’S CONSOLATIONS IS THE WORST TRIALS.
1. He had a present reward (Genesis 39:21).
2. His goodness was made manifest. (T. H. Leale.)
Joseph’s conduct in the dungeon
I. THE TENDERNESS
OF HIS SYMPATHY (Genesis 39:6-7). Suffering is absolutely
necessary to capacitate us for sympathy.
II. THE PROFESSION
OF HIS INNOCENCE. Of which notice the calmness and simplicity.
III. THE INTEGRITY
OF HIS TRUTHFULNESS. Having undertaken the office of interpreter
he fulfilled
it faithfully. (F. W. Robertson
M. A.)
Joseph in prison; or
an epitome of heaven’s rule over the world
I. THAT GOD’S
RULE OVER THE WORLD SUFFERS THE RIGHTEOUS TO BE GRIEVOUSLY OPPRESSED BY THE
WICKED.
1. Joseph was the subject of cruel envy.
2. Joseph was the subject of the vilest calumny.
II. THAT GOD’S
RULE OVER THE WORLD AFFORDS THE RIGHTEOUS AMPLE SUPPORT
EVEN UNDER THE
GREATEST TRIALS OF LIFE. Joseph had three things in that dungeon to support
him.
1. The approbation of his own conscience.
2. The respect of his circle.
3. The special presence of his God.
III. THAT GOD’S
RULE OVER THE WORLD WORKS OUT THE GOOD OF THE RIGHTEOUS BY EVERY VARIETY OF
INSTRUMENTALITY.
1. The evil passions of men.
2. The apparent accidents of life.
3. The mental visions of men.
4. The system of material nature.
Lessons:
1. The shortness of our trials compared with our destiny.
2. The unimportance of worldly condition compared with our moral
character.
3. Greatness
however depressed and obscured
must rise one day
through all obstructions to its rightful sovereignty. (Homilist.)
Life in a dungeon
I. THE PRISON.
Literally
“the round-house.” Probably at first Joseph was confined in a dark
and dismal subterranean “inner-prison
” where Psalms 105:18) he was put in irons. A
gloomy condition! But this seemingly overwhelming misfortune is but one of the
links by which a mysterious but all-wise Providence is to conduct him into
ultimately far higher honours and far more important trusts.
II. JOSEPH’S
IMPRISONMENT IS WHOLLY WITHOUT CAUSE. He was really suffering for his adherence
to the right. He received the reward
which many have done since
of reproach
slander
and every injury
where the highest respect and honour were justly
due. Instead of the admiration and lasting gratitude of his master
he was
thrust into the prison
and his feet made fast in irons. But in this unwelcome
and undeserved experience Joseph was but joining that illustrious company
swelled by subsequent ages to a mighty multitude
who have been made to suffer
for well doing
many of whom have had to seal their testimony with their blood.
The purest of all was “numbered with the transgressors.”
III. How JOSEPH
DEPORTED HIMSELF IN PRISON. True to his beautiful antecedents
even in this
black midnight he was still his noble self.
IV. THE LORD WAS
WITH HIM.
1. Let me commend to your prayerful study the beautiful bearing and
admirable spirit manifested by this young hero in this trying era in his
extraordinary history.
2. Learn from this subject to be faithful under all circumstances
and to endeavour so to deport yourselves as to show forth a blameless and
praiseworthy life. (J. Leyburn
D. D.)
Joseph in prison
A strange place
we might say
for a saint of God to be in! And
yet a place in which the saints of God have often been found; for the world
hath frequently misjudged them
deeming ill of whom it should have thought
well
and instead of loving them for the example of purity and goodness which
they have afforded
has made them the victims of its suspicion and hate. Thus
it has come to pass that the excellent of the earth
the men worthy of thrones
and palaces
have been ofttimes thrust into dark and noisome dungeons. State
records have their stories of illustrious prisoners; and so also have the
annals of the Church--and harrowing ones indeed they are. Samson
Micaiah
Jeremiah
John Baptist
Peter
Paul and Silas. And what shall I more say? For
the time would fail me to tell of others who
in apostolic and post-apostolic
times
were “in prisons oft
” and would joyfully have been there oftener
for
the blessedness that they realized there from the presence of Him who can make
of a prison a palace
and change dungeon darkness into heavenly light. We will
now
therefore
return to Joseph
to whose imprisonment our text relates--“And
he was there in the prison.”
I. WHY WAS HE
THERE? What crime had he committed? Against whom had he offended? How had he
sinned
that he should be found in such a place as this? Listen to the answer
for it is a rare answer. There is not one prisoner of a thousand respecting
whom it could be truly given. He had not sinned at all! He had wronged no one l
He was guiltless of any crime whatever! Then why was he there? I will give you
the answer in a positive form. He was there because he chose to suffer rather
than to sin--he preferred shame
and privation
and sorrow
to guilt. He would
rather be an inmate of a prison--aye
for life--with a clear conscience
than
the dweller in a mansion with an accusing one. Such is the answer to the
question
Why was Joseph where we now find him? And it suggests a practical
remark of very considerable importance and use
namely
that the highest
integrity will not protect a man always from misjudgment and oppression. The
very reality of goodness is the pledge that it will be tried
and these
sufferings
attendant often--I might say uniformly--on a course of spiritual
integrity
are just God’s way of trying it. Bear this in mind
dear friends
and you will not then be overwhelmed if
like Joseph
your fidelity to
conscience and to God should bring you into circumstances of deepest
humiliation and pain.
II. How DID IT
FARE WITH HIM THERE? And this is a question which admits
as you will see
of a
twofold answer--a sad and a pleasing one. At first it seems to have gone ill
enough with this young servant of God “there in the prison.” He was made to
suffer all the rigours of an Eastern dungeon. We learn from the
one-hundred-and-fifth Psalm
that the simple record in Genesis does not tell us
all that he underwent; for it is said there that his “feet were hurt with
fetters
” that “he was laid in iron.” Indeed
it was a most trying lot
and
must have been hard to bear
despite the consciousness of innocence to console
and sustain the mind. And yet there was a necessity for it; a necessity
I
mean
in connection with the wonderful drama which Joseph’s history was
designed to form. Without all this trial and suffering
so undeserved
so
apparently mysterious
there would have been wanting what gives the chief
interest to the final development
and makes the whole so beautiful a lesson of
trust in Providence
and patient waiting for the unfolding of God’s ways. And I
would say
my brethren
there may be a corresponding necessity in your case for
those circumstances in your lot which are most baffling and painful. It is not
sent to you out of mere capriciousness on the part of your Heavenly Father; but
because it is essential to the working out of His purposes of mercy in relation
to you. Just as it was not only part of God’s plan that Joseph should be
unjustly imprisoned
but also that his sufferings in prison should take
at
first
a character of special severity; so everything in the circumstances of
His people is equally the result of design
pointing to a future
hidden from
them now
but hereafter to unfold itself
and to display to their astonished
view wonders of Divine wisdom and faithfulness in the very events of their
history which they had deemed the most painful and obscure. But I said that the
question as to how it fared with Joseph in prison admits of a twofold answer.
What I have just spoken to may be called the sad part of the answer. Let us now
look at the more pleasing aspect of it. The severity was probably only temporary.
At all events
we soon find the young man enjoying a degree of liberty and
consideration that mark a wondrous change in his condition. But there is
something more than this. That which the spiritual mind fastens upon here with
most eagerness and delight is the statement about God’s regard to the suffering
prisoner. This it is specially that forms the pleasing part of the answer
as
to how it fared with Joseph in prison. Mark what is said at the end of the
chapter--“But the Lord was with Joseph
” etc. You see that the one idea here is
the presence of God with His servant; the favour of God
the prospering
blessing of God. The mind of the sacred writer seems to have been full of that.
It was in his estimation the grand thing
the salient point in the story--all.
Joseph found his prison-life eventually not only not sad
but happy
because
God was with him. Joseph won consideration and favour from his gaoler because
God was with him. Joseph succeeded so well in every business matter entrusted
to him because God was with him. Friendless and alone he could not be in that
case. Inwardly cast down for long he could not be in that case. Now
the
practical truth I wish to press upon you all here is the supreme value to be
attached to the presence and favour of God. (C. M. Merry.)
Joseph in prison
I. "GOD WAS
WITH JOSEPH”--WHERE?
1. God is no respecter of places. Men speak with bated breath of
prison-houses.
2. A sample of God’s faithfulness. Potiphar
from very unworthy
reasons
had withheld his favour from Joseph. Very likely many in the mansion
had secretly rejoiced in Joseph’s fall. “He keepeth covenant for ever.”
II. “GOD WAS WITH
HIM.”--IN WHAT MANNER?
1. God’s best gifts are spiritual. There was no miraculous
vindication of Joseph. Yet
though unseen
God was there
with hands full of
blessing.
Did Joseph retain his hold on God
and often speak to Him in
prayer? God nourished that faith. Did Joseph cherish a peaceful assurance
that
God would over-rule this disaster for good? Then God was dwelling in him.
2. God gave him mercy
This hardship led Jacob to faithful
self-examination.
3. God lightened his burden. The effect of God’s presence was
twofold
viz.
inward and outward. The real worth of Joseph was patent to the
governor of the gaol. It was soon felt by warders and prisoners alike that
Joseph was an injured man.
4. God made him useful. In that grim gaol his life was not doomed to
inglorious idleness. So in the prison Joseph did his very best; nobly exercised
his talents; lived as a king: and prepared himself to be ruler of Egypt. There
were lessons to be learnt here which he could not learn elsewhere; a good
school this.
III. “GOD WAS WITH
HIM”--WITH WHAT RESULT?
1. There was prosperity. That is
there was order
peacefulness
good discipline.
2. Knowledge was gained. Joseph learnt how little mischief bad men
and bad women can do to a good man.
3. It was a stepping-stone to sovereignty. Very likely the advantage
in the formation of Joseph’s character was immense. Excrescences were pruned
away. Good principles were better rooted. A generous forgetfulness of self was
fostered. He was daily growing into a nobler and purer man. (J. Dickerson
Davies
M. A.)
Joseph in prison
I. FAITHFUL
JOSEPH SUSTAINED IN PRISON BY A FAITHFUL GOD.
1. By manifestation of personal friendship.
2. By giving him favour in the eyes of others.
II. THE MYSTERIOUS
POWER OF DREAMS USED BY GOD IN BEHALF OF HIS WRONGED CHILD.
1. The tyranny of ancient monarchs.
2. The activity of the mind.
III. TO INTERPRET
DREAMS A DIVINE PREROGATIVE.
1. A dream from God
like a speech in an unknown tongue
cannot be
understood until interpreted by one who knows the language.
2. If a dream is designed to reveal a Divine purpose
that purpose
must be distinctly explained by special communication by God.
3. The folly of assuming intelligence enough to interpret dreams
without special revelation from God.
Lessons:
1. The advantages of true piety in the practical affairs of life.
2. A lesson for resignation under most trying circumstances. (D.
C. Hughes
M. A.)
Joseph in prison
I. If we take our
whole impression of his prison-life from the Book of Genesis
our impression
cannot be either accurate or complete. For
though the inspired narrative tells
us that Joseph was bound; though it records his earnest entreaty that the
cup-bearer
when he was released
would do his utmost to deliver him; though it
represents him as speaking with a certain bitterness of having done nothing to
deserve that he should be “thrust into this hole”; though
therefore
it
implies that Joseph was the victim of a gross injustice
and had a keen sense
of the injustice done to him
it nevertheless leaves the impression on our
minds that
for a prisoner
his condition was a singularly happy one; that he
enjoyed an altogether exceptional freedom
and rose to no small measure of
official place and dignity. But
as we learn from a supplementary Scripture
Joseph was by no means of our mind
nor were his circumstances altogether so
happy as we have supposed them to be. In Psalms 105:17-19
we read: “He sent a man
before them: Joseph was sold for a slave. They tormented his feet with fetters;
his soul came into iron
until the time when his word came; the word of the
Lord cleared him.” The light shed by these words shines into the dark Egyptian
dungeon
and enables us to see the prisoner and his condition more distinctly.
Honoured and trusted as he was
he was nevertheless “tormented with fetters.” He
was a prisoner
although a favoured prisoner
and thought more of his captivity
than of the favour which softened its rigours. Through long bitter months he
bends sad questioning eyes on a heaven no longer flushed wit-h rosy dawns of
hope
but dark with the hues of doubt and despair. Yet
as we know
the road to
the throne lay through that “hole”; and but for the hateful fetters which
tormented him
he would never have worn the signet from Pharaoh’s hand
nor the
golden chain which Pharaoh flung round his neck. The night in which he sat
ushered in a long and brilliant day.
II. Now
the
prison experience of Joseph is by no means an exceptional experience. Its value
for us lies mainly in the fact that it helps us to understand the common lot of
man. It would seem to be a law of the Divine government that in proportion as
men are great in capacities for service
they should have their capacities
developed by bitter and long-sustained afflictions. We can be patient and
hopeful when once we are assured that all our defeats and disappointments
our
failures and reverses and broken illusions
are parts of the discipline by
which God is training us for the work we long to do
and are qualifying us to
enjoy the freedom we crave. If only our character is being moulded and
hardened
and its capacities brought out by suffering
then it is not unjust of
God to inflict suffering upon us. If we can become perfect only through
suffering
shall we not thank Him for the suffering which perfects us? If only
as we learn to rule in the prison of deterred opportunities and defeated hopes
we can become fit to rule over the “many cities” of the heavenly kingdom
shall
we shrink from the prison which leads to the throne? If the iron must enter our
souls that we may be strong amid the flatteries and the adversities of fortune
shall even the fetters which torment us be unwelcome to us? (S. Cox
D. D.)
Free though bound
Though his body is in fetters
Joseph’s pure spirit is still free.
The one
man may load with irons; the other
God alone can bind in the
prisonhouse of torture. With integrity preserved
the prison may be a palace.
With God’s favour there may be happiness in a dungeon; without it
wretchedness
in a royal court. There may be spiritual liberty while shackles are chafing the
weary limbs
there may be the bondage of sin while no visible chains are eating
into the quivering flesh. In point of fact
Potiphar’s wife was the slave--the
slave of sin; Joseph the freeman
the emancipated of the Lord. “He is a freeman
whom the truth makes free
all besides are slaves.” Many
alas! though their
limbs are unshackled
are yet bound captives
to human appearance hopelessly
fettered by iniquity. Who is there so lost to honour that he would not prefer
Joseph’s situation to that of his assailant? purity to impurity? God’s favour
in a prison
to God’s displeasure in the decorated halls of wordly grandeur? (J.
S. Van Dyke.)
True prosperity
Now
do let us all be thoroughly instructed from this
what it is
that constitutes true prosperity. It is said of the soldiers of a certain king
in ancient times
that they lost a great battle by mistaking the shadows for
the
persons of their enemies. They discharged their arrows at the empty
resemblance
instead of the living and moving ranks of men. How many make a
similar mistake with regard to prosperity I They mistake the shadow for the
substance; and thus they take a wrong aim. All their energies and all their
efforts are directed to something short of the mark. Outward distinctions and
outward blessings
considered in themselves
form only the shadow of
prosperity. It does not consist in greatness
or grandeur
or riches
or
plenty
or ease. These are all sometimes possessed by the wicked; and sometimes
they are possessed by those
who
instead of being prosperous
have actually to
groan through the very disquietude of their heart. True prosperity is something
different to this
and independent of this. It can flourish without such things
as these
and make us happy either with or without them. It consists in what
Joseph had--the favour
and presence
and blessing of Almighty God
our
heavenly Father. This can make us happy in every place
and in every state. (C.
Overton.)
Uses of adversity
It is good for man suffer the adversity of this earthly life
for
it brings him back to the sacred retirement of the heart
where only he finds
he is an exile from his native home
and ought not to place his trust in any
worldly enjoyment. It is good for him also to meet with contradiction and
reproach
and to be evil thought of and evil spoken of
even when his
intentions are upright and his actions blameless
for this keeps him humble and
is a powerful antidote to the poison of vain glory; and then chiefly it is that
we have recourse to the witness within us
which is God
when we are outwardly
despised
and held in no degree of esteem and favour among men. Our dependence
upon God ought to be so entire and absolute that we should never think it
necessary
in any kind of distress
to have recourse to human consolation. (De
Imitatione Christi.)
Providences of God
We are tried by our disappointments
we are tried by our
successes. God heaps mercies upon men
and then takes them all away. He
blesses
enriches
and establishes men
and then shuts them up
impoverishes
and subverts them. The whole train of the dealings of God with them in respect
of the providential ordering of their affairs is either to break the hold of
this earth upon the human soul
through its senses and passions
or else to
inspire its religious faculties to take hold upon God and eternity. This is the
secret of the whole round of unspeakable and so-called mysterious providences
of God towards men; unspeakable and mysterious because God is acting in one way
and they are acting in another. (H. W.Beecher.)
A prisoner kindly treated
It is said that when John Bunyan was in Bedford jail
some of his
persecutors in London heard that he was often out of the prison; they sent an
officer to talk with the gaoler on the subject
and in order to discover the
fact he was to get there in the middle of the night. Bunyan was at home with
his family
but so restless that he could not sleep; he therefore acquainted
his wife that
though the goaler had given him liberty to stay till the
morning
yet
from his uneasiness
he must immediately return. He did so
and
the gaoler blamed him for coming at such an unseasonable hour. Early in the
morning the messenger came
and interrogating the gaoler
said “Are all the
prisoners safe?” “Yes.” “Is John Bunyan safe?” “Yes.” “Let me see him.” He was
called
and appeared
and all was well. After the messenger was gone
the
goaler
addressing Mr. Bunyan
said
“Well
you may go in and out again just
when you think proper
for you know when to return better than I can tell you.”
When God commands the life all goes well
“In the course of my inspection of the lines that morning
while
passing along Culp’s Hill
I found the men hard at work entrenching
and in
such fine spirits as at once to attract attention. One of them finally dropped
his work
and approaching me
inquired if the reports first received were true.
On asking what he referred to
he replied that twice word had been passed along
the line that General McKeller had been assigned to the command of the army
and the second time it was added that he was on the way to the field
and might
soon be expected. He continued
‘The boys are all jubilant over it
for they
know that if he takes command
everything will go right.’” (One Thousand New
Illustrations.)
Equanimity of character
The equanimity which a few persons preserve through the
diversities of prosperous and adverse life reminds me of certain aquatic plants
which spread their tops on the surface of the water
and with wonderful
elasticity keep the surface still if the water swells
or if it falls. (J.
Foster.)
God with His people in trouble
Think not that the presence of God with His people is limited to
palaces or to churches. It has been often manifestly seen that He was with them
in prisons
in caves or dens
on gibbets
in fiery furnaces. Ask not
why He
does not snatch away His people from such dreary places
if He is present with
them? Why should you think yourself wiser than God? You know why Christ
though
He was the Son of God
did not come down from the cross
that His enemies might
believe in Him. The sufferings of Christ were necessary for our salvation. The
sufferings of the saints are necessary for their own salvation
though in
another sense. (G. Lawson
D. D.)
Integrity repaid by confidence
Joseph
diligent and trusty
finds friends even in the prison.
Integrity invariably secures confidence. The conscientious
the honest
and the
truthful commonly find those with whom they deal willing to exhibit the same
qualities. On the other hand
the deceitful and the unprincipled are extremely
liable to be paid in their own coin. Indeed
so strong is the disposition to
judge others by ourselves
that we are tolerably safe in concluding that those
who charge the world with want of sympathy are not themselves extremely
sympathetic; that those who pronounce mankind unprincipled will bear watching.
Since the world is a kind of mirror
we are quite apt to see in others only a
reflection of ourselves. Since its polished hardness approaches flintiness
our
treatment of the world is liable to be turned back upon ourselves--the force of
the rebound as well as its nature being determined by our own conduct. If we
love our fellow-men
they will love us; if we hate them
they will hate us; if
we aid them
they will aid us; abuse them
and abuse returns
sometimes steeped
in the poison of malice. Hence it commonly happens that he who can control himself
can usually determine the treatment he is to receive from others. Joseph’s
kindness secured a return of kindness even from the Egyptian jailer; his
integrity was repaid in confidence. He who has the love which our Saviour
recommends possesses the means of securing kindness from most persons
and
respect from all (J. S. Van Dyke.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》