My Study this morning led me to Joseph in Potiphar’s house. Joseph was a slave, but he was highly regarded, and his master put him over all he had. But Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph, and Joseph, being honorable, fled from her when she became aggressive with him. And, even though he was once again imprisoned unjustly, Joseph maintained his integrity before God. This is a common theme in Scripture: flee from temptation. James says, “resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Romans 15 says that the God of Peace will soon trample Satan beneath our feet, and Paul says to the Ephesians [6:10-20] (repeating the prophets of the Old Testament) to put on the whole armor of God so that we may stand firm against Satan and his schemes.
Loved ones, we’re not merely told to be aware of sin, but to actively resist it. God reasoned with Cain over what was brewing in his own mind against his brother to master over sin. Sin is the enemy of God, and actively pursuing and participating in it makes us enemies of God. So, I urge you. Flee temptation. God will provide a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). Resist the Devil, and He will flee from you (James 4:7). Put your armor on and stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. As God hates sin, hate sin. Resist it, call others to flee from it and into the arms of Christ, who died to free us from the burden of sin. Call people to leave sin behind and live a new life, as Christ died and rose again, that we may be made new in Him. Flee temptation. Resist sin. Put your armor on and stand firm against the enemy. God has this all in His hand.
Genesis 39
Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”
As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.
