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[0:00] Thank you. So we're in chapter 37. When we ended chapter 37, what happened? I'm just asking that to give me time to turn to something here.

[0:18] ! No, it gets us on the road. Yeah, it gets Joseph on the road to Egypt.

[0:30] He had been sold. Now, why was he sold? His brothers were jealous.

[0:45] Alright, did they think to sell him first? Was that their first? No, what were they going to do? They were going to kill him.

[0:56] And Reuben convinced him, hey, well, let's not kill him. Let's put him in this pit. And we'll send the coat back. So they put him in the pit. What was Reuben's plan?

[1:14] Reuben's plan was to go fetch him out. But that didn't work, did it? Because in the meantime, they sold him to a caravan of the Ishmaelites.

[1:29] Midianites. Who took him where? To Egypt. Alright, so he has been sold in Egypt to whom? Potiphar.

[1:43] Who was Potiphar? He was an officer. He was a chief officer or the captain of what? Pharaoh's guard. He was the official. He was the high official charged with protecting the capital, protecting Pharaoh.

[2:07] Pharaoh. Okay, so he's been sold to a high-ranking official. Now, what's become of those dreams, right? In fact, I'm roughly quoting what one of the brothers said when they saw him coming.

[2:25] Ah, here comes the dreamer. We'll kill him and then see what happens. In Russia, at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution, who were they killing?

[2:53] Amongst many others. But they were killing the priests of the church and the academics and they were burning the Bibles.

[3:12] Why? Why? Why would they do that? Well, it's incompatible with the communists, the doctrines that they followed.

[3:33] Doctrines espoused primarily, at least commonly as we know it. He wasn't the first. Karl Marx was not the first, but he was the loudest in that area of Europe.

[3:47] So, by the way, Karl Marx wrote all that junk, protected by free speech in England. That's interesting, isn't it?

[3:58] We hear a lot of things spouted around protected by free speech in America. Which they couldn't say if they were saying it, if they actually lived under the things they're espousing.

[4:11] Never mind. We'll go on. So, same thing happened, by the way, only more so in communist China when Mao Zedong took over.

[4:21] They set China back centuries. So, here's the thing. Did all that Bible burning stop God's plan?

[4:37] No. Will every rebellion of man thwart in any way God's plan?

[4:50] No. Why not? Because he's God and I'm not. That's the easy answer.

[5:01] He's omnipotent. The creature has no control over the creator. That's what makes the plan of salvation and grace so very amazing.

[5:17] The creator who has been rebelled against became both just in that he exacted the punishment and justifier that he became the punishment for them that believe.

[5:38] That is amazing grace. Amen. And we profit from that. We profit from that.

[5:49] Okay. So, before we begin with chapter 39, by the way, we went through chapter 38. A story that in human perspective looks like a real junk failure, doesn't it?

[6:03] Judah does what he shouldn't do. He mistreats his daughter-in-law. He has no intention of fulfilling his duties as her father-in-law.

[6:20] So, Tamar is going to subvert him in a way that I would not recommend to any young woman. You wouldn't recommend it to your daughter or your granddaughter, nor should you.

[6:38] But even in that statement of failure, that child, Perez, God puts in to the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[6:50] And that's not the only person. He does that time and again. It's almost, may I say, a precursor for what he does in grace.

[7:08] The undeserved get mercy. If God was only just, he has every right as creator and as judge to destroy all of us.

[7:27] There is none righteous before God of his own. We approach God by the way. We approach the creator and sustainer and judge of the universe in prayer, which is a mercy by itself.

[7:48] And the only way we approach him is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God incarnate. So, God made it possible for me to approach him.

[8:01] And he says, not only will I come to you, Roger, but I'm going to allow you to approach the throne. But you don't approach on your own, do you?

[8:15] I may not approach the holy God. That's where Paul reiterates the fear of God. I don't approach the holy God on my own. God's not my buddy.

[8:27] He is my savior and my Lord. But I need to recognize that the grace of God does not mean that I'm equal with God.

[8:40] I'm not. He's still God. And demands awe. So, when we say our God is an awesome God, sometimes we don't really grasp what we should be saying.

[8:55] Because when the prophet Isaiah saw the vision of God, he said, he didn't say, oh, this is cool. I get to go before God.

[9:07] He said, woe is me. So, to understand that brings us to where we're understanding now. So, in this program, even with time after time after time, we see what we would call failures.

[9:26] I mean, let's start with Adam and Eve. A failure. But God did not stop.

[9:37] And it didn't work God's plan. When is the lamb slain? From the foundations of the world.

[9:50] God didn't miss it. It's all in his plan. When Peter will talk, will give the message in Acts 2 to the people of Israel, there in what I believe is in the temple, but because of the number of persons who are there and hear it.

[10:12] When Peter says that, he's going to say, Jesus was handed over to be killed with the express purpose and foreknowledge of God.

[10:25] You didn't do it because you thought you made it up. You did it because it was in God's plan. I find great comfort in that. I find great comfort.

[10:37] It's not only awesome in the truest sense of the word, as in fearsome, but it's also extremely comforting to know that my life is in that, the hand of the God who knows it all and does it all.

[11:00] I find that greatly comforting. Greatly comforting. So we're going to begin where we left off last week with 2 Timothy, chapter 1.

[11:10] I know, don't lose chapter 39 of Genesis, but 2 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 8.

[11:20] Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.

[11:33] Now, he's talking to whom? Timothy. This is a letter. This is the last letter, probably. Paul's not getting out this time.

[11:47] He's not going to be released. He knows he's coming to the end. Later on, he's going to say, make every effort to come to me and try to make it before winter and bring along my coat and my parchments.

[12:04] I'm being poured out. So, verse 9, by the power of God, by the way, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from yesterday, all eternity.

[12:33] That comforts us. That's our hope. That's our firm assurance of salvation. The God who cannot lie, and by the way, when you read lie in the scripture, it doesn't just mean intending to deceive.

[12:51] That's kind of how we've connotated it. But what the lie means is he can't make a mistake. He cannot say anything that does not conform to truth because God is truth.

[13:03] So, he cannot ever say anything that does not conform to his nature and his character. He is, in that respect, he is what we might call simple.

[13:21] I don't mean that he's simple in that he is easily understood. He's not. And I don't mean simple in that he doesn't understand. He does.

[13:32] I mean simple in that he is everything as he appears and sets himself to be. There is no, now, not with me, of course, I'm all plain.

[13:48] But with you. With you. With me. What you see may or may not be what I am thoroughly.

[14:05] I should aspire to that. But it may not be everything. Man, even Christians, can be hypocritical.

[14:20] Even the apostle Peter was hypocritical. And Barnabas. Remember Galatians, right? So, God cannot be.

[14:33] God cannot be. He is always exactly as he presents himself. It doesn't mean that God has revealed everything about himself.

[14:44] He hasn't revealed all his plans. There are many things that happen in your life that you have no idea why in the world. And the temptation is to say, why me?

[15:01] Why me? What are you doing, God? It's not fair. Well, if I got what was fair, I'd be in internal damnation.

[15:13] If I got what was fair, I don't really want what was fair. What I want is God's mercy and his grace, and I'm so very thankful for it. Now, that was a way too long introduction.

[15:25] I'm sorry. Back to chapter 39. Okay. Now, we pick up with Joseph. Again.

[15:38] And in fact, the remainder of this is going to be largely about what happens hereafter. But, Joseph has been sold to Potiphar.

[15:51] Now, beginning with verse 1 there, we already went over who is Potiphar. He's the captain of the guard of Pharaoh.

[16:06] Keep reading in there, at least through those first six verses. Get yourself acquainted because we're going to ask. What's the first thing that's remarkable to you about Joseph?

[16:23] Joseph. The Lord was with Joseph. Now, who's going to be doing this? Joseph is going to be doing the work as far as what's visible.

[16:42] But, who's working through him? The Lord is with him. Now, does that mean that if the Lord is with me, I'm going to be a successful man?

[16:56] good answer. Does, that's not what we're reading about here, though.

[17:09] When this says that he's finite, well, we'll keep going and then we'll re-entertain that question. So, what does Potiphar notice about Joseph?

[17:20] Joseph, the very same thing that Sophie just told us, that she noticed. The Lord is with him and he's successful, this guy's good.

[17:35] So, what's going to happen? Right. Notice in there, in chapter, in verses two and three, this is what Potiphar notices, that Joseph was a prosperous man, the Lord was with him, he was a prosperous man, and his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all he did, that is Joseph did, to prosper.

[18:08] It's a reiteration, but it's an emphatic reiteration about who's doing this. God is making everything he does to prosper. Potiphar notices this.

[18:22] By the way, it sounds a whole lot like what Laban had said about Jacob, doesn't it? When Jacob was saying, hey, I need to leave, go back, make my own way, Laban said, I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.

[18:51] So, while this is very pre-law, pre-Sinai covenant, I know that, yet it looks very much like a precursor of, I will bless all people through your seed, Abraham.

[19:12] Abraham. So, here's another example. The Lord is blessing Potiphar, who, by the way, is a pagan, but he's blessing Potiphar through the work and diligence of Joseph, who heretofore has not been a real people person.

[19:38] Hey, brothers, listen to this, listen to this dream that I just had. I mean, that got along well, didn't it? That's part of why he's here.

[19:51] Or, shall we say, that's part of how God organized him getting here. So, you know, the Apostle Paul says, we hold this treasure, he's talking about the gospel, we hold this treasure in clay vessels.

[20:16] So, you're very right when you say he's a crackpot. I'm thankful for that.

[20:29] That the treasure of the gospel is carried in very weak stuff. But it's not weak, it's the power of God and his salvation. So, it's not going to be what I do, it's going to be what God's doing.

[20:47] It's for his glory. So, back to this. So, we don't know where he started in the house of Potiphar, but we know where he's going to go, don't we?

[21:00] Ron already said it. Where's he going to go? Potiphar sees that God's blessing his house because of Joseph. What's Potiphar going to do? He made him the overseer over his house.

[21:18] Everything he has is in Joseph's hand. Alright? Now, by this time we're at verse five.

[21:30] Now, what's the result for Potiphar? Everything in his house, everything in his field is prospering.

[21:48] Why? Because God's working through Joseph. Joseph. And this is part of God's plan. See, we're going to get in our time machine.

[21:59] This is not revealed to the point we're talking about. Except to Abraham at that wonderful covenant time when Abraham and God walked through the covenant in chapter 15.

[22:16] Right? No? What's wrong with it? God went through that covenant alone. He went through alone.

[22:31] I also find that comforting because that's my salvation. Christ paid it alone. I didn't pay anything. I didn't pay a thing. So, he did tell when Abraham was in that fog, that deep tremulous sleep.

[22:56] It says a terror fell upon him. When Abraham was there, he said, no, for certain, your offspring that I'm going to give you that's going to wind up more than all the stars you could count and more than all the sand you can count.

[23:11] know this, they're going to go into a land that's not theirs and they're going to stay there and they're going to be oppressed for a spell.

[23:22] No, he didn't say a spell. He said 400 years. But then I'm going to bring them out with great wealth.

[23:34] God's preparing the way. We're going to see that by the way as we go through most of you already know where this is going to go with Joseph and how God has laid the groundwork so that Egypt will become the richest nation in the known world at the time.

[24:00] And Israel's going to leave with a whole lot of that wealth. And that's all going to be God. So what did Potiphar find?

[24:16] And we're by verse six here in case I'm distracting you. What did Potiphar find when he checked up on his affairs? What's verse six say?

[24:31] Someone read verse six. Would you please? If you don't read it out I'm going to call on you. Okay.

[24:44] Okay. He left everything he had in Joseph's hand. We already read that. Go ahead please. He never checked up on it.

[24:59] Why? Because he knew who was in charge. He knew who he had put in charge. He knew he was faithful. He knew he was diligent. And he knew that God was blessing him.

[25:12] And so why would I check up on him? I'm better off than I ever have been. And that's a beautiful picture.

[25:23] He didn't know anything about his affairs except what he sat down to eat. He just knew he was getting along really well. That's how much he trusted Joseph.

[25:37] Now we're going to see how long that lasts aren't we? But I should take a lesson from this. So now there's an interjection here that seems almost out of place but it's setting us up for the next stage.

[25:57] What does God say about Joseph's physical appearance? He was a good looking man. In fact that was exactly what was said about Joseph's mother Rebecca.

[26:14] She was well favored and comely. She was a good looking woman. Her son's a good looking man.

[26:26] Now by this time we're at verse seven. Keep reading. Joseph has diligence.

[26:41] He has intelligence. He has the blessing of God and he has good looks. So his life ought to be easy street.

[26:53] Right? According to the world. Well what's he doing wrong if you know. So unfortunately though Potiphar's wife has her passions aroused over all this and rather than be controlled what does she propose?

[27:26] Yeah and not just common relations and here's where sometimes our euphemisms get in our way and we start stumbling about and we start losing language.

[27:41] So we need to be careful with it. Intercourse means more than just the sexual act.

[27:51] Okay? Intercourse is any kind of social interaction. So we need to be careful with that. But that's not what she's proposing. She's proposing an illicit amoral or immoral relationship.

[28:09] She's saying come to my bed. Now what does Joseph respond? Right.

[28:20] Well and he says it with important words. words. These are important words. He didn't say just no way because I might get in trouble.

[28:32] That wasn't his attitude. What was his approach? Potiphar trusts me. He's put everything into my hand.

[28:47] I'm in charge of everything. can I do this great wickedness against Potiphar and against God.

[29:01] So thankfully Joseph's thinking about the Lord and he's thinking you know not only is my behavior important because of other people it is.

[29:14] it is. But my behavior most of all is important because of who has ransomed me.

[29:28] That's why in Corinthians the Apostle Paul is going to reiterate this to the church very forcefully and he's going to say behave yourself because you are not your own.

[29:39] You are bought with a price. The price is by the way the very blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and you don't belong to yourself you belong to God therefore glorify God in your body.

[29:52] Now that's not the only place he will say something like that but that's a good place for me to land this. Joseph while not having that kind of revelation we know still recognizes that his responsibility is to God and he also recognizes that there are people watching my master trusts me so I have a moral responsibility to my master as well primarily to God but also to Potiphar because he trusts me now by the way is Potiphar a Jew or a Hebrew at this time no he's not one of the brothers he has no relationship with them is he a God fearer as in

[30:53] Jehovah fearer no he recognizes that God Elohim no he doesn't use the word Jehovah that that's not here in your scripture when you read the scripture by the way just as a reminder for me when I read the scripture and I see the word Lord that means master or preeminent one at least in a particular interchange so Potiphar is to Joseph his Lord but when I see the word Lord in all capital letters that is the given name of God that is the Jehovah so that does it say that okay so it does say that he recognizes that

[31:55] God that the Lord that Lord God was with Joseph and prospered him so he is not going to do what she suggests now that settled her down didn't it no no what does it say day by day now lest I get complacent I need to be careful here because the apostle Paul is going to talk to Timothy and first Timothy about about how to deal with temptations there does come a time when it is right to resist the devil to resist temptation Joseph is doing that then there comes a time when you have to get out of it and that's why the apostle

[33:02] Paul tells Timothy flee youthful love get out of there by the way young folks you have to have the plan of escape in place before you need to use it if it's not already in place you won't be using it when your head is all messed up and it will get messed up we are subject to that if we're honest and then some of us who aren't honest like me no we are subject to that we get our heads have the plan of action in place and ready to move before you have to use the plan of action now and I just reiterate that because if I take this out of the context of the whole of scripture and

[34:05] I read this I say well God really enabled Joseph to do the right thing which he did but he tells me there's a time to fight and then there's a time to run know the difference and if you feel your head going young man for instance and you're starting to feel and not think get out run because that's when the flesh is taken over and I'm not thinking anymore so back to this this woman day after day is talking to him now in Joseph case he's resisting no no no and he's trying to avoid her it says right he tries to keep out of her way now by the way back to that one more one more word on that if

[35:20] I don't want to fall off a cliff some of you were just were just around the cliffs it's beautiful country but if I don't want to fall off I might well walk far enough from the edge the closer I get to the edge the better my chances of dropping so for the Christian I should not say how how far is too far I should say flee so it did not settle her he keeps going about his business however because this is God's plan and God's God sometimes has been especially as we read well not just especially in the Old Testament New Testament read about Paul read what Paul says about his employer his no what he says about his employment in in second

[36:30] Corinthians you know I've been beaten with rods I've been stoned I've been shipwrecked a couple of times I've floated around up to three days in the ocean I've been naked I've been hungry so I know what it is by the way this is the context of I can do all things through Christ you know we like to put that on t-shirts but the context is not so that I can go out and start a business that's not what that context is that context is life might get tough and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me that's what the context is so he says I have learned how to be content in whatsoever things I have that's that's the point so here it's God's plan that Joseph go through this because God's going to send him on another little side journey okay so one day he is in there and none of the men of the house are there what happens what's that who grabbed him potiphar his wife grabs hold of him and says come lie with me and she's not letting go this time so what does he do he flees and he leaves his coat in her hand now that's not going to work well but we keep going now

[38:32] Joseph Joseph is diligent he's honest he's careful about business and he's submissive to God and it's not going to work out well in my in my mind it works out perfectly well but it in what I would say is good for me isn't going to happen is it because now what does she do when the coat is in her hand she screams for the men of the other men servants of the house to come and says what does she say okay notice who she's blaming here she's blaming Potiphar now she's a wicked woman so she blames

[39:39] Potiphar but Adam kind of blamed Eve ultimately he blamed God the woman that you gave me it was your idea Lord okay so she she blames Potiphar for what hey he bought this Hebrew slave by the way this is the second time Hebrew shows up it shows up the first time about Abraham this is the second time that word shows he brought in this Hebrew to do what to mock us and this is what's happened he came in to take advantage of me and what I screamed yep yep I screamed to save myself and he ran out leaving his coat in my hand and then she holds the coat until

[40:49] Potiphar comes home okay I'm going to take two more three more minutes Potiphar comes home what does she say this Hebrew that you bought what he came into me to to make sport or to have relations he came in to take advantage of me poor me and what I screamed and I I'm sorry he left his jacket and he took off okay now Potiphar has seen that everything

[41:56] Joseph has done for him has prospered he no longer even takes even he doesn't check up on him and in an instant with one word what's Potiphar's reaction he was angry and by the way and here's my lesson if I have known you for years and I've known your character and I've seen your behavior and then I meet someone else whose words are nice in my ears and I kind of go let's say I agree with a lot of what this guy says and then this guy disparages you what's my reaction do

[43:04] I well what I'm saying is do I take the word of a person I've known for a year against the character I have seen displayed for 10 or 15 you know sometimes that happens even in churches and in fact we we know of a specific situation where he's a Christian he's with the Lord now but what he had seen for 25 years he threw away in two because of a disagreement I need to be careful that I don't wind up like Potiphar and just say you know they're probably I don't want to read into the scripture what's not revealed but it's interesting that

[44:06]  Potiphar has no clue that his wife has maybe not always been honest so I need to be careful of that that's a lesson that's not directly from the scripture but I need to be somewhat careful about that and I'm going to have to quit here and I thank you very much