May the mumbling commence!
Even in exile in a foreign land, it’s
important to stay true to God. Staying
true will benefit you and all the people around you. Read some more of Joseph’s story from
Peterson’s The Message:
After Joseph had been taken to
Egypt by the Ishmaelites, Potiphar an Egyptian,
one of Pharaoh’s officials and the manager of his household, bought him from them.
As it turned out, God was with Joseph and things
went very well with him. He ended up
living in the home of his Egyptian master. His master
recognized that
God was with him, saw that God was working for good in everything he did. He became very
fond of Joseph and made him his personal aide.
He put him in charge of all his personal affairs, turning everything over to him. From that moment on, God
blessed the home
of the Egyptian – all
because of Joseph. The blessing of
God spread over everything
he owned, at home and
in the fields, and all Potiphar had to concern himself with was
eating three meals a day.
Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. As time went on, his master’s wife became
infatuated with Joseph and one day said, “Sleep with me.”
He wouldn’t do it. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master doesn’t give a
second thought to anything that goes on here – he’s put me in charge of everything he owns. He treats me as an
equal. The only thing he hasn’t turned
over to me is you. You’re his wife, after all! How could I violate his trust and sin
against God?”
She pestered him day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go
to bed with her. (Genesis 39:1-10)
Now read the same passage from the
NIV translation:
Now Joseph had been taken
down to Egypt.
Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard,
bought him from the
Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
The Lord was with Joseph and he
prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian
master. When
his master saw
that the Lord was
with him and that
the Lord
gave him success in everything he did,
Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his
attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of
his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all
that he owned, the Lord blessed the household
of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had,
both in the house and in the field. So he left in Joseph's care everything he
had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern
himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,
and after a while his
master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to
bed with me!"
But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern
himself with anything in the house; everything
he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My
master has withheld nothing from me except you,
because you are his
wife. How then
could I do such a
wicked thing and sin against God?" And though she spoke to Joseph
day after day, he
refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. (Genesis 39:1-10)
Again, I’m not sure why Peterson
makes the change from captain of the guard to the manager of his
household. It’s puzzling to me. Other than that, there are no significant
changes in today’s passage.
What is certain is that infatuation…
or lust… or a crush never leads to anything good – especially when the person
infatuated with the other person has power over them, as it is in this
case. It might have been easy to comply…
to not make waves and risk disturbing his relationship with Potiphar and his
family. Thing were good… quite blessed
actually.
But Joseph knew the source of his
blessings – the Lord. And he knew that
God would be offended if Joseph chose to take advantage of Potiphar’s trust in
Joseph. Joseph knew that the sin would
be first and foremost a sin against God… the God of love, the God of
relationship.
What about us? Can we make a stand for the Lord when the
going gets tough or when the going gets seductive? Let’s stand our ground and seek to be on God’s
side.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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