13
¶ And it came to pass, when she saw that
he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, 14 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 I cried with a loud voice: 15 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. 16 And she laid up his
garment by her, until his lord came home. 17
And 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: 18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice
and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
19 ¶
And 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. 20 And Joseph’s
master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners
were bound: and he was there in the prison. 21
But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour
in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22
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. 23 The keeper of the prison
looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him,
and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.
Potiphar’s wife tells the men of the house, servants
most likely, that Joseph tried to rape her. She made the accusation worse by
implying that Joseph, a Hebrew, did it because he mocked the Egyptians, had
contempt for them. She turns the assault she committed into an act of racism on
Joseph’s part. Now, what was bad, is even worse, and represents something of
the ethnic tensions found in Egyptian society of that time. You might have a
foreign ruler, the Hyksos, whose people were hated by the Egyptians, and an
angry and seething class of Egyptian officials, as I explained earlier. Joseph,
being a Hebrew, is of the same general culture as the Hyksos rulers, but a
slave. If this isn’t the time of the Shepherd-kings it doesn’t matter because,
in any event, Joseph is perceived as attacking the Egyptians by attacking an
Egyptian’s wife in this accusation.
Of course, Potiphar is furious. His wicked wife
controls the narrative. The fact that he did not kill Joseph or have him killed
can lead us to two possibilities. One, either Potiphar spared Joseph because of
his relationship with him as a faithful steward or he was held back from
killing a slave by law or custom. We know Joseph was a slave rather than our
modern-day definition of a servant because he was sold. He could have been
beaten under some systems and killed under others but we aren’t sure what
Egyptian law at this time allowed or what Potiphar was thinking other than he
was angry.
But, this is how God is going to put Joseph in front
of Pharaoh. As man acts in his own ways but God will turn them to His own
purposes, man’s intentions notwithstanding. He is placed in a special prison or
part of the prison where the Pharaoh’s prisoners were bound, giving evidence of
Potiphar’s high rank. God shows Joseph mercy again and lets his character shine
through, though, and God permits him to rise to the top and as what we today
call a Trustee in prison parlance,
Joseph was in charge of everything once again, and totally trusted. His
character and integrity fall right into God’s plan for Joseph’s people and God
will use him mightily.
God will use you even if you are wicked and carnal but
the outcome for you personally will be much different. God has permitted even
the most wicked to rise to the top but always keep in mind that it is His
purpose that is the dominating factor in such things, in His ministry of
reconciling man to Himself.
Daniel
4:17 This matter is by the decree of the
watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the
living may know that the most High
ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth
up over it the basest of men.
Luke
4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an
high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of
time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the
glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give
it.
Pray that you get a Joseph at the top of your country
or company rather than what we usually get.
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