Gen 39 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
In the last lesson, Joseph’s brothers stripped off his coat, threw him into a pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites. “The merchants brought Joseph into Egypt” (Gen 37:28). From beginning to end, chapter 37 does not record God saying or doing anything.
In this chapter, the second verse says it straight away: “The LORD was with Joseph” (v. 2).
Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites. (v. 1)
2The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3His master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did prosper in his hand.
4Joseph found favor in his sight. He ministered to him, and Potiphar made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
5From 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 LORD’s blessing was on all that he had, in the house and in the field.
6He left all that he had in Joseph’s hand. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome.
7After these things, his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.”
8But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand.
9No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
10As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
11About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside.
12She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside.
She called the men of the household and told them that Joseph had come in to lie with her, that she had cried out, and that he had left his garment and run. (vv. 13–15)
16She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home.
17She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me,
18and as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.”
19When his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” his wrath was kindled.
20Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody.
21But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it.
23The keeper of the prison didn’t look after anything that was under his hand, because the LORD was with him; and that which he did, the LORD made it prosper.
To read the whole chapter: Genesis 39, 23 verses.
The LORD with him, and things going well. Joseph is a servant sold into Egypt, yet the chapter opens, “The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man” (v. 2). Even his master could see it: “His master saw that the LORD was with him” (v. 3). God’s presence was not just something inside Joseph. Others could see it too.
What was given, and what was not. His master made him overseer, and “all that he had he put into his hand” (v. 4), and “He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate” (v. 6). Later Joseph tells his master’s wife that the master “has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife” (v. 9). Joseph knew clearly what had been given to him, and what had not.
It is God he would sin against. Joseph’s reasons begin with his master’s trust, and end on one sentence: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (v. 9). For Joseph, the first question was not whether he would be found out. It was about God.
Day after day. This was not a one-time thing: “As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her” (v. 10). Joseph did not refuse just once. He would not even be with her.
Another garment. In Lesson 1, the brothers used Joseph’s coat to make their father believe something that was not true. In this lesson, she “caught him by his garment” (v. 12), and Joseph left the garment and ran. She “laid up his garment by her, until his master came home” (v. 16). For the second time, Joseph’s clothing is taken and used to tell a story that is not true.
He did right, and still went to prison. The passage does not say that after Joseph refused, everything was fine. His master’s “wrath was kindled” (v. 19), and he “put him into the prison” (v. 20). The passage does not even record Joseph defending himself. Doing the right thing does not guarantee you will not suffer.
The LORD with him in prison. The chapter ends almost the way it began: “But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him” (v. 21). It was true in his master’s house, and it was true in prison. God did not take Joseph out of prison. He was with him in it: “that which he did, the LORD made it prosper” (v. 23).
In Egypt Joseph was an outsider — “The Hebrew servant” (v. 17) — with no family and no one to speak up for him. Yet the passage says, “the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake” (v. 5).
God had promised Abraham, “All the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3). In a servant who had been sold, that promise was beginning to come true in an Egyptian household.
Maybe you too are in a place you did not choose, doing work someone else has given you. Maybe you did the right thing and were misunderstood, with no one to speak up for you.
This chapter does not promise that you will never lose out. It shows you that in his master’s house and in prison, God was with Joseph.
This week: Think of something that comes after you ‘day by day,’ something you know is wrong. Each time it comes this week, remind yourself the way Joseph did: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (v. 9).
Scripture: World English Bible.