We ended the series on Forgiveness with Pt. 4: Murder was the case with Rueben the
eldest sibling who appeased the other nine brothers by suggesting that they
throw Joseph in the pit (dry well) where he would die without them actually
murdering him as they initially wanted to do.
He probably felt confident that while he left the nine at camp and
Joseph in the pit it would give the nine time to cool off and teach Joseph a
lesson on his perceived obnoxious behavior.
His plan to secretly free Joseph when he returned from the business that
caused him to leave the group was admirable but the problem was that his timing
was off. Joseph was led to Egypt as a
slave after being sold by the nine, all of whom were envious of his
relationship with their father, Israel, with the exception of the eldest Rueben. As treacherous as these brothers were, it is
puzzling as to why Rueben didn’t demand that they go after Joseph. Instead to cover their devious behavior they
created a master lie that Joseph must have been ripped to pieces based on the
circumstantial evidence presented to their father– the custom made coat of many
colors he designed for Joseph. If you
want more insight or want to catch up on the previous blogs you
can visit my blog page: http://dailyflicker.blogspot.com.
Tania Not Tanya
Nugget: When God speaks or gives a
directive, it is essential that we act when he says regardless to whether you
fully understand, agree or know what to do.
God rarely gives all of the details related to the assignment, instead
he opts to give us information on an as needed basis. He does so by giving you directives as you
go, not before and as you carry out the assignment you start to connect the
dots as things become clearer. Mastering
God’s timing is more detrimental than you can imagine including the fact that
God is NOT obligated to give you a second chance for that particular assignment. God doesn’t need us, he chooses us for his
good pleasure and while I will not pretend to know the mind of God what I can
say from experience is that when we obey God he: 1) rewards us (not necessarily
with money but it can definitely be a part of the reward); 2) we grow in our
faith which is invaluable; and 3) if others are involved in our assignment they
are blessed. It’s a win, win, win all
the way around. However, if we punk out
(e.g. doubt God, wear the muzzle of fear like a banner of honor, second guess him
and/or our abilities, engage in pity parties – ours and other peoples) we
initiate self-inflicted defeat. God
loves us too much to allow us to fail.
Let’s pick up with young 17 year old Joseph and the sequence
of events that happened after he was forced from his family and homeland. Time will not allow us to fully dissect
Genesis 39 which tells the story, so I will paraphrase the events to give a
brief overview: 1) Joseph was sold to Potiphar an Egyptian Officer for Pharaoh,
the king of Egypt; 2) God’s favor was over Joseph’s life even in what appeared
to be madness – part of that favor was quickly learning the language and
customs, not to fit in but to survive; 3) God caused Potiphar to favor Joseph
(not in a sick lustful way, I would imagine more as a father figure. How can I be so sure? Because Genesis 39:2
says: God’s favor was over Joseph); 4)
he was allowed to live in Potiphar’s house (the custom was for slaves to sleep
in slave quarters); 5) he became Potiphar’s personal aide I am sure in part
because of Joseph’s attention to detail, excellence, his desire to please,
integrity, dependability, trustworthiness, etc. all of the characteristics his
brothers despised; 6) he excelled so quickly and well that Potiphar put Joseph
in charge of his entire household, he was the shot caller as a young slave; 6) from
that point on the blessing of God reigned over Potiphar’s household, EVERTHING
Potiphar owned: money, investments, property, crops, etc.
You cannot pay for God’s favor and even though Joseph was a
slave in a foreign country God’s hand was over Joseph’s life (in the middle of
this storm he had it made while in this unfamiliar territory). He was protected, well cared for, in a
leadership position and he is mature enough to handle all of this, including
the psychological trauma of being sold into slavery. I can imagine that the temptation to press
“rewind” at night, during festivals, celebrations, Potiphar’s family gatherings
etc. may have been challenging. Joseph
was a real person with real emotions but he was handpicked by God for this
assignment and was equipped with everything he needed to do the job with
excellence. It is remarkable to me that
even while Joseph is a slave, he gives nothing but excellence.
Genesis 39:6-7:
Joseph was FINE!!!!! He wasn’t cute or handsome, he was strikingly handsome. snap, a cougar (older woman who wants a younger
man). This kitty cat was on Joseph’s
line -- had the hot’s for Joseph. I can
imagine her looking at him lustfully; making excuses to go in his space or have
him come to hers; giggling like an innocent school girl at things that weren’t
funny or over-laughing at things that were; tricking herself into thinking that
Joseph wanted to get on her line, etc. She
finally made her move and demanded
that he have sex with her.
Unbeknownst to Joseph and Potiphar,
Potiphar’s wife was an OG
He
wouldn’t do it. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master
doesn’t give a second thought to anything that goes on here—he’s put me in
charge of everything he owns. He treats me as an equal. The only thing he
hasn’t turned over to me is you. You’re his wife, after all! How could I
violate his trust and sin against God?” She pestered him day after day after
day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her. Genesis 39:8-10 (The Message)
She was a tenacious woman and refused to take no for an
answer so she pestered him every day, day after day and each time he
refused. He found as many ways as he
could to avoid her, but there were times when he had to be in her
presence. On one of these days he came to the house to do his work and
none of the household servants were there. She grabbed him by his coat and
said: “SLEEP WITH ME!” He ran out of his coat and out of the house and left her
standing there looking like an absolute idiot. When she realized that he had
left his coat in her hand and run outside, she called to her house servants:
““Look—this Hebrew shows up and before you know
it he’s trying to seduce us. He tried to rape to me but I yelled as loud as I
could. With all my yelling and screaming, he left his coat beside me here and
ran outside.” Genesis 39:11-15
(emphasis added).
I realize there is a school of thought which believes it is
challenging for our youth to live as virgins until they are married (which is
God’s perfect plan no matter how unpopular it is in the 21st
Century). But Joseph is a clear example
of living a pure and sanctified life (not by what he wears on the outside but
how he is dressed on the inside with integrity, obedience to God and
self-respect). He has no youth pastor, youth
rallies, YouTube, FB, Twitter, Instagram, bible or anyone to encourage
him. He is a slave in a foreign country,
sold out by his own relatives, with nobody to physically encourage him except
God his father, which is not bad at all, but imagine his state of mind. He is possibly 18 or 19 by now full of
testosterone on overdrive and he turns down the opportunity thrown at him by an
OG Snap who’s on his line like a cat in heat.
It’s the perfect set up because he had no mother figure in his life as
he grew up motherless because his mom died giving birth to his younger brother,
Benjamin when he was probably a toddler.
For real?? God you allowed him to
be tempted like that? Yes because he
knew Joseph’s character and that he was equipped to pass that test, which means
that you young and older men can pass that same type of test. I don’t wanna make this about Mrs. Potiphar,
but she is so insignificant that we don’t even know her name and since she was
so bold, I have a feeling Joseph was not her first victim.
When Potiphar got home she was beside herself with grief,
shame and humiliation, not for the
This is a great place to stop because I’m out of time. We will pick it back up tomorrow.
In His Excellent Service
Tania not Tanya
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