Genesis chapter number 39. As we look here, we return to Joseph as the main character here in these next few chapters. In fact, he'll be that focus throughout the remainder of the book here as it tells about Joseph's life in Egypt. and what the Lord works and does there in Joseph's life. And it's remarkable when you see the things that Joseph himself had to endure for him to have the attitude that he would have when you get to chapter 50 when he sees his brothers and tells them, you know, by the time you get to the end of the book there and for him to give the the description of what God had worked and what God had done, and for him to understand that, to the capacity he understood that, he held no ill regard against his brothers for what they had done to him in selling him into slavery. And through this process, we're going to read tonight here in chapter number 39, Joseph is going to face a very bad situation in his life here in Egypt. He is taken as a slave to be sold in Egypt. Here in chapter 39, we're told here of this sale and him coming to be the servant of Potiphar. And now he's going to be wrongly accused here in this place. And so you're going to see a lot of these things happening to Joseph that God is using to put him where He wants him to be. And so Joseph is enduring some bad situations in his life, some seemingly unfair situations even. that God might put him where he needs him to be in order for him to save Israel from the coming famine that was headed their way. But they had no clue about it. No one knew about it. God knew about it. And so He is maneuvering Joseph into that place where Joseph can be the help and even the savior, if you will, physically speaking for his people in this situation. But when we read through this, looking at it from the perspective of Joseph, we don't know what is yet to happen. And so we see these events that take place and we find these things seemingly very unfair. Man, that's rough on Joseph. Why did Joseph have to endure this? But we know the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say. We know what the rest of the story is, and we know what's going to come down the pike here that the Lord is preparing Joseph for. And so we read here in chapter 39, and we see here this situation of Joseph in Potiphar's house. And it tells us in verse 1, and Joseph was brought down to Egypt. and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him at the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph. And he was a prosperous man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. So Joseph is brought down by the Israelites as they, of course, bought Joseph from his brother. They bring him down and they sell him to Potiphar. Now this in itself is remarkable in the sense that who he is sold to. Of all the people that he could have been taken to there in Egypt, of all the people that were buying slaves, of all the people that were there to gain these slaves being brought in by the Ishmaelites here to sell, Potiphar, the captain of the guard of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is the one who gets Joseph and purchases him as his slave. This would put Joseph, or God would put Joseph in a desirable position here. Joseph might gain some notoriety, if you will, in the household of Potiphar. The Lord prospered Joseph. It's hard for us to understand that, the fact that here he is a slave. How can you say God prospered him? Well, it doesn't matter the situation we find ourselves in, the Lord can bless His people immensely, no matter where we might be. No matter what condition we find ourselves in, our Lord can prosper us in every situation. Now that does not mean that Joseph was driving a Cadillac and had a great big bank account. That's the only thing that registers in most people's mind when they think of prospering, you see. They don't take into account all these blessings that God was working in Joseph's life here to make him prosperous. And here in this situation, as he is in the house of Potiphar, given this position as a slave, everything Joseph touched Every work that Joseph did in Potiphar's house worked out wonderfully. If Joseph was the one planting the tomatoes, those were the biggest tomatoes, you see. If he was the one that was planting the beans, that was where the biggest beans were. If he was the one that was cleaning the house, that was the place where there was no dust left, you see. Everything he did, God prospered his work. as he went forward, that Joseph gained notoriety in the household of Potiphar so that Potiphar would elevate Joseph to be his chief servant. Joseph was given charge over the whole house. Not only was he given charge, look here what it goes on to say here in verse 3 and 4. It says, "...his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all than he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put in his hand." Now, we see the extent of that in verse number 5 there and verse number 6. It says, "...it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake." So not only was the things Joseph was doing, not only were they blessed, and it proved that God was with Joseph there, but the whole household, when he made him chief servant, Potiphar's whole house began to prosper. It made all the difference in the world there. There was a stark difference in Potiphar's house when he made Joseph there the chief servant of his household. When he gave him charge over there was a noticeable difference that his house was different. It was being blessed by Almighty God because Joseph was there. Because Joseph was there. God was blessing his whole household. So much so that it says there, says God blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake. Verse 5, and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he left, verse 6, he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he knew not all he had save the bread, which he did eat. Potiphar trusted Joseph to such an extent that he literally put everything he had in Joseph's hand, so much so he had no idea what he had. Except for the bread he would eat when he got home from work each day. When he sat down to eat, he knew he had that. He trusted Joseph so much that everything Joseph was doing, he knew the Lord was blessing. And he'd give him control over it all. He didn't even know how much money he had in the bank. Joseph did, because Joseph was taken care of. But Padre had no idea. As long as he had something to eat when he'd come home, he could see the blessings abounding in his household because of God's blessings on Joseph. Now, we're not given here any compliance from Joseph as Joseph is enduring this. I don't know if he had any or not. I don't know that. But every time the question would come up in the whole of this narrative, when the question would come up of Joseph's attitude, it was always an attitude of grace, trusting that whatever God was doing, God was going to work it out. Whatever God was working, God was going to bless. And no matter what situation, we find that specifically here, no matter what situation comes against him, he was going to follow God. And so we don't see any complaining from Joseph in this. Although we see these things, we realize it's seemingly unfair that this would happen to Joseph. It doesn't make much sense from our perspective that his brethren would do such a wicked thing to him. But Joseph is not complaining. You see, no complaint. But rather him saying, no matter what, I'm going to serve the Lord. I'm going to follow the Lord. I'm going to please Him. That was Joseph's attitude that we find here. And so literally, Potiphar gives him everything to the trust of Joseph. And whatever Joseph did, the Lord was blessing. And so Potiphar's house was notably being blessed as Joseph here is in charge of the household. But then a problem arises. And that problem is here in verse 7. And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and she said, lie with me. Potiphar's wife here lusted after Joseph. But don't you know, in this situation, the devil was working hard. The devil don't know the future. He knows what's told to him in the Scriptures. Understand that. He is not omniscient. He does not know all. He knows what's revealed. He may know the things or the events that's coming up quickly. Perhaps he knows that because he sees the working in the heavenlies about what the angels are performing and what they're set to do. But he's not on mission. He's not the same as God. He does not know all the future that's yet to come forward and what's to be unfolded there. But he doesn't need to know what's about to happen to Israel to bring these problems against Joseph. All he needs to see is God's blessing this slave here and God is working everything. I'm going to try to mess this up. And so you can see the hand of the devil in those principalities as they are working in this effort here to stifle these blessings being poured out upon one of God's children. And so it comes in the form of Potiphar's wife. And she begs Joseph to lie with her. But he refused, the Bible says in verse 8, and it said unto his master's wife, Behold my master, what if not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hands. He's let me charge over everything, and he's not asking anything of me. He's not asking record of me. He's not saying, Joseph, what are you doing with this? Joseph, what are you doing with that? Joseph, what are you doing with this stuff over here? How have you increased my... He's not asking. All he sees, Potiphar sees is the blessings being poured out and he's trusted all of it to the hands of Joseph. And Joseph says there in verse 9, There is none great in this house but I. Neither hath He kept back anything from Me, but thee, because thou art His wife. How then can I do this great wickedness?" And listen to this, sin against God. Not against his master. It would have been an offense against Potiphar if he were to do what Potiphar's wife wanted Joseph to do. It would have been a transgression against his master. It would have been an offense against his master. But that's not what Joseph was most concerned about. Joseph was most concerned that it would be an offense and a transgression against God. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? He says. And so that was what was forefront on Joseph's mind here. This is what was forefront. And that gives us again a picture of this young man's attitude here as he has found himself a slave in Egypt. His attitude that no matter what, I'm going to serve the Lord. I'm going to honor Him. I'm going to do what He said to do. And so he is giving himself to serve the Lord no matter the situation he is in. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And so verse 10, it says, He came to pass. as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearken not unto her to lie by her, or to be with her." That had to be an awful difficult situation for Joseph to be in. This woman was coming at him every single day, trying to convince him, trying to tempt him, every single day. And Joseph was constantly standing against it. No, I'm not going to do that. and constantly being propositioned every day. Verse 9 there again says, Neither is there none greater in this house than I, neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against him? God, no doubt each time that was his answer. Every day that she brought these temptations before Him, every day that she would proposition herself and make these advances, no doubt every day this was His answer. It says in verse 11, it came to pass about this time that Joseph went into the house to do his business, and there was none of the men of the house there within. So the rest of the servants were not there. It was just Joseph. 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. Sometimes when the world brings these propositions to us, when the world brings these temptations before us, sometimes the only thing we can do is just run out of it, just get away from it. Those that are there with you, those that see your reaction to those situations, they might get a good kick out of that and they might make fun of you and laugh about it and so on. But sometimes that is the best thing you can do is just get out as fast as you can. And that's what Joseph did. He got out of the situation as fast as he could, so much so he just came out of his coat and left his coat in her hand there to get out away from her. to get out of the house. Whatever he had to do to get away from that situation, he was running to get out. He was not going to do that evil against God. But now having left his garment in her hand and fled out of there, you know, there were no servants in the house, but no doubt they were out in the fields. And here they see Joseph carried out of the house. running without his coat on, running across the field there to get away, probably noticeably distressed as he was running out and wondering, what in the world is going on? What in the world has happened to Joseph there? And it says there, Verse 13 says, it came past when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and was fled forth, that she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us. He came in unto me to lie with me, and cried with a loud voice. I cried with a loud voice, she said. And it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled and got him out. And she laid up his garment by her until his Lord came home. She had to get her story straight. That's what she was doing. She was getting her story straight. She wanted to make sure. Joseph noticeably upset. noticeably distressed, running from the house, leaving his coat in her hand to get away from her, knowing that there were others that saw what had happened here, knowing that they probably saw him running out of the house, and seeing that distress on his face, ooh, I'm going to have to come up with a story. And so she accused Joseph of trying to rape her. to these other servants. So she got a story with them together. And then when Potiphar came home, she relayed the story to him. The remarkable thing was Joseph was still there. Joseph was still there. Now we don't see Joseph offering a defense. I don't know why. I don't know if it was simply him giving himself wholly to, Lord, whatever you're going to do, I'm following you. Or if he was just not permitted to. I don't know. But we have no defense from Joseph. Potiphar hears the accusations from his wife, and he believes the accusations that are delivered. It says there in verse 17, she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant which thou hast brought unto us came in unto me to mock me, and it came to pass as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled out. It came to pass when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me, that his wrath was kindled. Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound. That's very important to note that one line right there that the Lord records for us. This wasn't just a common man's prison. This is where the servants of the king, when they messed up, that's where they got sent to prison at. These were where the influential people were put in prison, he said. I don't know if the conditions were any better, but there were certain people there. They were the more to-do, well-to-do folks that were in this prison. These people that had at least at one time had some influence. This is where they were at, you see. And so he puts Joseph in that prison with these other servants of Pharaoh. It says, verse number 21, but the Lord was with Joseph. The Lord was with Joseph. We're told that in verse number two, when he was put in Prodigal's house. The Lord was with Joseph. Wherever Joseph goes, whatever situation he finds himself in, the Lord was with Joseph. He blesses him even in the prison here. The Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper." So he goes from the head of Potiphar's household, literally having everything in Potiphar's house under his control. He's falsely accused. He's cast into prison. And before long, he's running the prison because of the Lord's blessings on him. The Lord was with him. The Lord was prospering. And even while he was in prison, he was running the prison. Even while he's a prisoner there, he's the one running the place. And this will have a great impact on God's positioning Joseph in the kingdom of Pharaoh. Even in the service of Pharaoh, as he will bring these things about and bring to pass. this situation in order for Joseph to save the people of Israel alive from this great tragedy that was coming upon all the land that no one but God at this point knew of. And so even in these bad situations that Joseph is enduring, we see not only was the Lord with him, But the Lord was constantly promoting him. The Lord was constantly prospering him. The Lord was constantly giving these blessings upon everything that Joseph touched. So that not only was he ruling Potiphar's house, but now even after being cast into prison, he's ruling the prison here as well. The Lord is going to work everything out. No matter how Satan may interfere, no matter how he might connive and conceive these plans to try to otherwise thwart what God was doing, God's purpose, God's plan will always be worked out. And He will accomplish exactly His purpose for Joseph. that he might be in the place where he needs to be to save all the people of Israel alive. All right, we'll be dismissed now. Let's all stand.