Strength for Today

"And Joseph was handsome in form and appearance" (Gen. 39:6). But trouble was brewing in the house of Potiphar. His wife -- I like to call her Mrs. Pot-o-Fire -- had the hots for young Joseph. The Bible says she cast "longing eyes" on him. One day the brazen woman said, "Lie with me." Joseph was far from home. No one else was around. Who would ever know? But somehow he overcame this temptation. He replied, "You are his wife. How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Where did this inner strength to resist temptation come from? Somewhere Joseph had learned some valuable principles of life. He knew about the sanctity of marriage (even if the Egyptians did not). He knew that adultery was a "great wickedness." And he knew that sin, ultimately, is against God. The Prodigal Son said, "I have sinned against heaven." Joseph knew this too. John said, "I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one" (1 John 2:14). Somehow the word of God was abiding in Joseph, advising him that sexual immorality was wrong. Day after day the seductress tempted him but "he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her." But one day, when he was in the house "to do his work," she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." Then Joseph "left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside." Paul told young Timothy, "Flee youthful lusts," and that is what Joseph did. When Potiphar came home that night his wretched excuse for a wife accused Joseph of unwanted advances. What a liar she was. And what a dolt Potiphar was to believe her flimsy story and then throw Joseph, the best thing that had ever happened to him, in prison. There is a price for taking a stand and Joseph now pays that price. But today the name of Joseph is remembered and we don't even know the name of the wicked woman who tried to seduce him.

"The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man..." (Gen. 39:2). How do you make a success of your life? Well, you probably wouldn't want to take the route that took Joseph there. His brothers sold him into slavery. When Joseph, 17, arrived in Egypt, a captain in the army, Potiphar, bought him and took him home with him (39:1). Acts 7:9 adds, "But God was with him." God was the secret to Joseph's success. Yet, as far as we know, God never appeared to Joseph, or talked to him, as He had with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet is is very evident that Joseph sensed God's presence, protection, provision, and power. Joseph's master took notice too. "And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand" (v. 3). Isn't that amazing? Psalm 1:3 says, "And whatever he does shall prosper." That was Joseph. The blessing of God was on him from the moment he came into Egypt. And all Egypt would soon be blessed by his wisdom and decisive action. Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything in his house (v. 4). From that moment on (v. 5), everything that Joseph touched turned to gold. "The LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and the field" (v. 5). Joseph was worth a million times more than whatever Potiphar had paid the Ishmaelites for him. Soon he put "all that he had in Joseph's hand" (v. 6). Talk about trust! If Forbes magazine had been around back then, Joseph would have made the cover as the most successful young man in Egypt. All because God was with him. However you measure success, you will never be a success in life without God. So live that God can bless you and those around you. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD" (Psa. 37:23).

"And they drew Joseph up out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt" (Gen. 37:28). Plan A of the hate-filled brothers was to kill Joseph. But one brother, Reuben, still had a spark of human decency in him. He suggested throwing him into a pit, planning to return later, rescue him, and present him to his father (v. 22). Plan B was to sell him into slavery. It was Judah who suggested selling their own brother (vs. 26, 27). The story of Joseph resembles the story of Jesus in several details in this section of Scripture. Judas betrayed Jesus and sold Him for thirty pieces of silver. Joseph was stripped of his robe (v. 23) just like Jesus would be stripped of his robe. Joseph was taken to Egypt just like Jesus had been taken to Egypt when He was but a child. There is no record of Joseph protesting what was happening. That may be the most amazing part of this story. Just like Jesus, "he opened not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7). One thing that we do not learn until we read Psalm 105:18 is that Joseph was hurt in the wicked process of being sold into slavery. "His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron." Just imagine walking all the way to Egypt with your feet in fetters and and an iron collar around your neck. The hurt in his feet was to say nothing of the hurt that was in his heart. He had been hated without a cause, betrayed by his own brothers, and sold into slavery. Would he ever see his father again? How his heart must have ached with every step on hurt feet that led him farther from home. One thing we must keep in mind: this was all a part of the plan of God. "When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave" (Psalm 105:16-17). Joseph, though sold as a slave, would be their savior, just as Jesus, sold for thirty pieces of silver, was "the man sent ahead" who would become the Savior of the world. 

"And Israel said to Joseph, ;Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.' And he said to him, "Here I am.' So he said to him, 'Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word'" (Gen. 37:13-14). Here is yet another similarity between Jospeh and Jesus. Both were loved by their father. Both were shepherds. Both proclaimed prophetic truth. Both were hated without a cause. And now we see that both were missionaries. Notice the missionary language in the text. The father (Jacob, now called Israel) says, "I will send you." Joseph responds, "Here I am." Then the father gives him his commission: "Go." And Joseph went. He traveled from Hebron to Shechem. A man found him in the fields and asked him, "What are you seeking?" The young missionary responded, "I am seeking my brothers." Doesn't this remind you of Jesus who came to "seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10)? Joseph pressed on until he found his brothers at Dothan "Gen. 37:17). But when they saw him coming they conspired to kill him. Just like Jesus when He came unto His own, and His own received Him not (John 1:11). His own people rejected Him, hated Him, and eventually killed Him. But He arose from the dead and returned to His Father, just as Joseph would eventually be raised from the pit and be happily reunited with his father. I see Joseph in today's text as a young missionary. Let us hear the Father's voice and say, "Here am I; send me." Whatever the cost. 

"Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more" (Gen. 37:5). When I was young, I dreamed of playing for the New York Yankees. It was not an actual dream, however, but was more like a youthful wish or hope. Joseph, at 17, had several dreams. He did not conjure them up. They came to him from God and were later fulfilled right down to the bowing down of his brothers when they came to him in Egypt. Joseph's brothers already hated him because their father had a special coat made for him. The Prodigal Son's brother was angry because his father had never given him a goat. These brother were mad because their father never gave them a special coat. Goat, coat, whatever. (A goat will appear in this story later.) When Joseph tells them about the dream of the sheaves bowing down to his sheaf, they hated him even more. Hatred ran deep in this family line. Esau hated Jacob (Gen: 27:41). Leah was hated by Jacob (Gen. 29:31). Now Joseph is hated. Jesus would be hated too -- hated without a cause. The fault here is not with Joseph for sharing the dream but with the brothers for not believing the dream. Joseph's dreams needed no interpretation. The brothers knew full well what they meant. After the first dream was revealed they said, "Are you indeed going to reign over us?" Well, yes he would. "So they hated him even more for his dreams" (Gen. 37:8). Joseph had a second dream. This time the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him. He shared this dream with his father and his brothers. Jacob rebuked him: "Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?" (Gen. 37:12). Well, yes, they would. The whole family resented the dream of Joseph. But they fully understood the dream's implications. What was the young dreamer to do? Stop having dreams? They came from God and were a part of the prophetic plan that would eventually bring Jesus to prominence. Some day every knee will bow to Him (Phil. 2:10, 11). Don't make the mistake of despising Joseph for his dreams like his family did. 

"Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers...and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father" (Gen. 37:2). I wonder what that "bad report" was? I am sure it was not an "evil report," which believers are forbidden to spread around. Joseph was in many ways a type of Christ and I do not see him spreading gossip or slander. Evidently his brothers were up to no good. Was it something they were talking about? Something they had actually done or were planning to do? The text does not say. Whatever it was it was serious enough that Joseph felt he should share it with his father. I have to believe that Joseph did not make up some story or embellish the account. No doubt his brothers called him a "tattletale" for "ratting them out" to their father and it probably contributed to their hatred for their younger brother, whom they viewed as a "snitch." But what was he to do? He saw something amiss and talked to his father about it. Notice that Joseph was "feeding the flock." He was a shepherd. So was Moses, David, Amos, and a host of others. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Joseph was like Jesus in so many ways. This is but one of them. Those who feed the sheep should be able to discern what is going on. Those who teach the Word of God to the flock of God should be discerners of men. The apostle Paul told the elders in Ephesus, "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). 

"Mom always liked you best!" I think that comes from a Smother's Brothers routine. Joseph, through no fault of his own, was the favorite son of Jacob. He was also favored by his mother because he came in last in the "baby derby" between Rachel and Leah (Gen. 30:1-24). His coming last made him first in her eyes. When Jacob saw Esau coming with 400 men, he placed Rachel and Joseph at the rear of the column, as an act of protective love (Gen. 33:1, 2). Jacob "loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also, he made him a tunic of many colors" (Gen. 37:3). Parents sometimes have a tendency to favor one child more than the others. This is not wise. Jacob's discrimination led to dysfunction in the family. "But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him" (Gen. 37:4). The superabundance of love poured out upon Joseph by his father unleased a torrent of hatred toward him by his brothers, resulting in his being sold into slavery. In spite of all this, Joseph casts a giant shadow across Scripture. There are more chapters (37-50) devoted to his life in the book of Genesis than there is the Creation, Fall of Man, the Great Flood, and the Table of Nations (1-11) and the life of Abraham (12-25). There are also many similarities between Joseph and Jesus. We'll look more at his wonderful life in days to come.

Martin Luther once wrote a letter to his friend Erasmus, saying, "Your thoughts of God are too human." I wonder if that is not true of us as well. And I'm not just talking about those who flippantly refer to God as "the man upstairs" or treat Him as a "cosmic bellhop." A. W. Tozer said, "It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the 20th century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to constitute for professed believers something amounting to a moral calamity." (And Tozer wrote that in 1961. What would he say today?) My friend Given O. Blakely says that "God" is mentioned in Scripture 4,447 times, "Lord" 1,055 times, and "LORD" (Jehovah) 6,528 times. Surely these numbers alone demand a careful study of God. Charles Spurgeon said that nothing would enlarge the intellect or magnify the soul of man as a "devout, earnest, continued, investigation" of God. A study of God is vital to your life. Eternity is at stake. Really, it is. Jesus prayed, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3). Several years ago I preached from this text in India. In the crowd were Christians, Muslims, and Hindus. You talk about a relevant text! Hindus worship 33 million deities, but Jesus said there is only one true God! Muslims honor Jesus but only as a prophet. The text says knowing Jesus as the One whom God sent will result in eternal life. The knowledge of God is the most important thing in the world. "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this -- that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD..." (Jer. 9:23, 34). How well do you know God? Are your thoughts of God "too human"? God wants us to know Him more than He wants our worship. That may sound strange in the modern church culture but check out Hosea 6:6. "For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."

Back in January I began studying the life of Abraham in Genesis 12. Today I finished that study by reading Genesis 25. Abraham casts a long shadow over the book of Genesis. But after Sarah died, Abraham took a second wife, named Keturah (Gen. 25:1). She bore six more sons (vs. 2-4). Abraham gave all that he possessed to Isaac. But then we read, "But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east" (v. 6). What is this? "The concubines which Abraham had"? That doesn't sound good at all. This is not finishing well. The sons of Keturah whom he sent east eventually aligned themselves with Ishmael, and the descendants of the wild man Ishmael have been a thorn in the side to the nation of Israel ever since. Abraham lived to be 175, died, and was buried next to Sarah. I have seen this happen more than once. A godly man (or woman) loses his mate, remarries, and the second marriage is not a good one. I don't know if that was the case with Keturah or not, but what is it with the concubines that Abraham had? That seems so out of character with the man we admire so much. Loneliness and sorrow can sometimes cause a person to do questionable things. I am not judging Abraham; I am merely commenting on what the Bible says about Abraham in his last days. Let us pray to God that we will finish well. 

"I'm so full I couldn't eat another bite!" Ever said that as you pushed back from the table? But how full of Christ are you? The Bible says, "You have been given fullness in Christ" (Col. 2:10). Do you sense that fullness? The Bible has much to say about fullness. In God's presence there is fullness of joy (Psa. 16:11). In the fullness of time God sent forth His Son to be the Savior of the world (Gal. 4:4). The fullness of the Deity dwells in Christ (Col. 2:9). Paul soke of the fullness of the blessing of Christ (Rom. 15:29). He prayed that believers might experience the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19) and the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). He also spoke of that time when the fullness of the Gentiles would happen (Rom. 11:25). Jesus was full of grace and truth (John 1:14) and "of His fullness we have all received" (John 1:16). We should be full of both grace and truth. Take time to look up some of these passages and ponder how full you really are. There is surely room for more! We cannot fill up until we are empty, so perhaps we need to empty ourselves of self and stuff so that we can truly experience the fullness of God and Christ and all these other good things.