Bible Study Online ArticleLocated at the Bottom of Page In the last article we took a look at how Joseph was able to retain the favor of the Lord on his life, simply by not compromising his position with the one true God, in spite of his dire situation.
Be that as it may, after all that Joseph had to endure after his brothers had sold him to the Ishmaelites, he now finds himself in what seems to be, a very fortunate position. Joseph would arrive at this point within his uncertain journey, for the mere fact that after the Ishmaelites had purchased him from his brothers, they would continue their journey and would eventually arrived at the Egyptian kingdom. It would be at this time, the Ishmaelites would sell Joseph to the Egyptians. And soon after he would be sold again to an Egyptian official who went by the name "Potiphar". Considering that Joseph hadn't done anything wrong to be in this position of hardship to begin with, one could not blame him if he had decided to become angry and bitter when it came to the way that his life had turned out. But Joseph would not go down that emotional and destructive path, being that he preferred to stay true to the one true God, in spite of his situation. Because of his faithfulness, Joseph would continued to be highly favored by the Almighty God and success found him in all that he did. Potiphar the one who had purchased him, saw how God favored Joseph and so therefore, promoted him to be the overseer over all that he had. The Sacred Record reveals to us at this point that Joseph was a well kept man, he was also well-built and very handsome. Because of this, it wouldn't be long before Potiphar's wife would begin to take notice of him. She began to pursue and tried to tempt Joseph every chance that she got: "Come to bed with me!" She demanded. But Joseph being the man that he was would refuse her advances: "With me in charge, my master doesn't 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?" He would tell and remind her. But Potiphar's wife would ignore Joseph's reasoning and continued to pursue and tried to tempt him some more. She would do this day-by-day and each time Joseph would continue to resist her advances. Understand that this speaks volumes when it comes to the type of man that Joseph was, for he was in a foreign land, around strange customs and religions and yet, he didn't compromise when it came to his beliefs and he held true to who he was in God. Keep in mind that he had the opportunity to sleep with, perhaps a young and beautiful Egyptian woman and yet he refused her advances, being that she was a married woman, who was wedded to his master. Joseph had every opportunity to be led astray and yet he held firm. Then one day, we find that Joseph had entered into his master's house to tend to his normal everyday duties. But on this particular day, none of the household servants were inside. It would be at this time that Joseph would find himself all alone with Potiphar's wife. And this time around, Potiphar's wife would become more aggressive and she grabbed Joseph by his cloak: "Come to bed with me!" She demanded once again. But Joseph resisted her this time around as well. And he would also run off, quickly departing from her presence, being that she had become so aggressive. Now Joseph had ran off so fast, Potiphar's wife would still be holding on to his cloak. Needless-to-say, at this point she had become very angry and not knowing if Joseph would tell Potiphar her husband, she decided to get ahead of the story by calling the household servants over to her: "Look, this Hebrew has been brought to us to mock us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house," she told the house servants. A short while later, she would continue to cover herself by telling the same story to her husband Potiphar immediately after he had made it home. It would be at this point, after Potiphar had heard all that she had to say he became very angry. This would eventually lead to him having Joseph thrown into the King's Prison for what his wife had told him. The King's Prison is where all the traitors and highest offenders would be sent for the crimes they have committed. Joseph is now sitting in the King's Prison, for a crime that he didn't commit. It would seem that Joseph can't catch a break and when things started to look up for him - things became immediately bad again. Will this be enough for Joseph to turn his back on the one true God? Will he make it through this prison sentence? Through this new ordeal? What happen, did God abandon him? Why didn't the Lord protect him? Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty **YOUR CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE SERIES WOULD BE HERE** 69) Joseph the Interpreter of Dreams 71) Joseph & The Pit of Darkness 72) Jacob the Father of Sorrow 73) The Importance of Judah's History 75) The Reaping Season of Judah 76) Tamar's Revenge 78) Joseph the Servant of Favor 79) <-CURRENT PAGE-> 82) The Dreaming Cupbearer & Baker 84) Joseph's Dark Dreams Interpretation 85) Joseph the Overseer of Egypt  |
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