Genesis 39 God With Us

Welcome to the podcast of Recast Church in Madawan, Michigan where you can grow in faith community and service. This message is by lead pastor Don Filsack and is a part of the series beginning with God walking through the book of Genesis.

If you would like to contact us, please visit us on the web at recastchurch .com. Here's Pastor Don.

Joseph in Potiphar’s House and the Lord’s Presence

So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge and because of him he had no concern about anything But the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome and form an appearance and after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said lie with me.

But he refused and said to his master's wife Behold because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house. And he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself because you are his wife.

How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And as she spoke to Joseph day after day He would not listen to her to lie beside her or to be with her. But one day when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men in the of the house Was there in the house?

She caught him by his garment saying lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house She called to the men of her household and said to them see he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us.

He came in to me to lie with me and I cried out with a loud voice and as soon as he heard that I lifted Up my voice and cried out he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house. Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home.

And she told him the same story saying the Hebrew servant whom you have brought among us came in to me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried He left his garment beside me and fled out of the house as soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him this is the way your servant treated me his anger was kindled and Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison the place where the Kings prisoners were confined and he was there in prison but the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the Prison and the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison.

Whatever was done there He was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge. Because the Lord was with him and whatever he did the Lord made it.

Prayer for Conviction, Repentance, and Encouragement

Succeed, let's pray father. I rejoice in the opportunity to talk again about your word. What we need most this morning whether we know it or not is for your spirit to speak to us in our hearts. To convict us where sin is present in our lives and to bring us to a place of repentance.

To provide encouragement where there is a lack of courage right now in our hearts and in our lives to obey and to walk in your truth. And Father we need your presence here. We desire and hunger and I saw a lot of raised hands of people who say they want you with them.

They want your presence in their lives. And father you are here with us. It's a glorious and a majestic and an amazing thing that you indeed are with your people and as much as we can be Forgetful of that.

I ask that this morning. You would remind us of your presence and not your presence for condemnation with your people but your presence for Encouragement and joy and life and love and all the fruit of the spirit that your spirit residing in us brings up within us.

So father, I pray that you would make that a reality for us as we get an opportunity to hear a testimony from a brother. Here and then an opportunity to lift up our voices and praise for what you are doing in our lives.

I ask that you would be honored and glorified through everything that happens here from the children's ministry and the nursery and those who are serving all around. To the time that we depart from this place having put everything away and packed everything up.

I ask that you'd be honored and glorified in Jesus name.

A Testimony of Conversion, Trial, and God’s Guidance

Hello. Good morning, everyone. My name is Arthur Pruitt. 1987 was when I was arrested for complicity to aggravated robbery and what happened was I Was hidden from work. I lived in Columbus, Ohio. I was hidden from work.

To see a friend of mine in Newark, Ohio, which is 45 minutes away from Columbus. When I got there, I saw a friend of mine who I haven't seen for About 12 or 14 years and I pulled up. I said Dwayne. What's up, man?

So we got to talking and he had on the Wendy's uniform. And he said art. He said can you take me to pick up my check? Little did I know he was going into Wendy's to rob it. I had no idea. He had on the Wendy's uniform and so I dropped him or took him to Wendy's parked right in front of Wendy's.

When he went in there from what the detectives told me is that he went in went behind the counter. Went to the manager's office. Had a knife and held the held her at knife point and robbed Wendy's when he came out of Wendy's.

He didn't run. He walked like nothing happened got in the car and we went to some apartments. What happened is that I was intoxicated so I ran into a dumpster at the apartment the manager happened to call the police.

For me running into the dumpster. Well, we sit next to the car talking about old times and then the police pulled up and said hold up. It was like five or six cars. They pulled their guns out said hold up and know Dwayne grabbed a police officer's gun and took off running.

So I'm like what's going on? And they said we're gonna arrest you. We're taking you to the courthouse. So they took me to the courthouse. They had me fill out a report. I Told him what happened and they said I don't believe you.

So they say I know you was in on the robbery. I know you got some money. I said sir I don't have no money, but what I got paid today when I worked at shot and steam distribution center. So he pulled out my wallet.

He count the money and he seemed that it matched my check that I didn't have any extra money. So they still kept questioning. They asked me who the person was. I say his name is Dwayne. I gave him his last name.

Well, finally they caught up with him and arrested him and he informed them that art didn't know what was going on. He didn't know that I was going in to rob or anything, but they still took me to trial.

I went to trial had a jury trial. I had two of them the first one ended in a hung jury and the second one my public defender said Oh, you don't need to testify because they're not even really getting into answer.

I mean getting into deep like they did the last time as far as seriously asking a lot of questions. They refused to have Dwayne on the second Jury trial because he was called a hostile witness for the prosecuting attorney.

Because he let them know in front of the jury. He said art didn't know what was going on. So they didn't have him on the second one. So the second one the jury rent went out deliberated it took him two days to come up with a decision and that's when they found me guilty and gave me 7 to 25 and The Lord blessed and I was out in four years and nine months for being a Honorable inmate.

But I was convicted for something. I didn't even know about. Or didn't even have anything to do because complicity what complicity mean is that you at least had some idea. You could be sitting in your house and somebody rob a bank come to your house and If they say hey I robbed a bank and you don't call the police then they could Charge you with the same amount of time as they did that person, but he never told me anything.

He even told the courts never told him anything and that's why my life while I was in there I took time out a detective came to me and I got my life saved and all I did was witness to people get my life straight with God and I always identify my life with Joseph and Moses in the wilderness because I consider that was my wilderness my life-saving place.

What God dealt with me and slowed me down was able to get me on track where I am now Praise God. Thank you.

The Lord Was with Joseph in Egypt

Thanks a lot to the band for leading us in worship. You guys sounded good singing this morning. It sounded really good. So I really appreciate that. He even thought so that's great. Remember that at any time during the message if you if you need to or want to you can get more coffee.

I think there's maybe a couple more doughnuts over there or juice. Restrooms are out the door to the end. Women's downstairs men's. Upstairs if you need to use those or if you need to get up and stand in the back.

I know sometimes I might sound like a broken record, but I mean that sincerely I just want everybody to make yourself comfortable here. So we dig into God's Word and make sure that you have Genesis chapter 39 open in front of you.

I hope that that that there's a benefit to you being able to see as I walk through this. I really am taking it verse by verse even if I'm not referring to each and every verse as I'm talking about it.

I'm walking through the text as we go. We see. Thinking back to a couple of weeks ago. Actually, we have to go three weeks back because there was that interlude of Genesis chapter 38 in there. We were introduced to Joseph in chapter 37 and the whole story about him being sold into slavery by his brothers.

They intended to murder him and then Judah had the great idea of hey Why don't we make some money instead of killing him? Then we don't have his blood on our heads and we can we can go ahead and make some profit here.

So they sold him to some Ishmaelites and we don't know much about. I mean think about the details of a man in that ancient time being sold into slavery and all of a sudden the Next thing we know he's in as a servant in somebody's house.

We don't know how roughly he was treated by the Ishmaelites who bought him. But I don't think it's um I don't think it's too far into the realm of imagination. To kind of think that maybe Joseph had a little bit of fear in this process of being sold and taken down roads.

He had never traveled even if he wasn't treated roughly. I would imagine there was fear. Sorrow as he departed the land of his youth. Not under his own control. But under somebody else's and certainly being owned by someone not sure what they were gonna do with him.

Not sure what they were gonna use him for how many you think that would be kind of scary. I think that sounds kind of like a scary place to be. Nothing is mentioned of the method of the sale when he gets to Egypt.

He's obviously sold by the Ishmaelites and yet we know that he was purchased by the captain of the guard who? Reported to the king of all of Egypt. So he's sold into a house of pretty high prestige to begin with.

Somebody who is the captain of the guard that reports to the Pharaoh? Now, I don't know if you consider like as we move forward I think sometimes I have a tendency to forget what's gone before in the text and I could just read a chapter at a time.

Or something like that and not see the life of Joseph in its entire scope but have you ever considered the dreams that Joseph had and how those dreams might have played at the corners of his mind over the Course of his life.

Remember he had those dreams that he told to his family where his siblings all of his all of his family bowed down. Before him he had two separate dreams that really were stark and stood out to him enough that he told Everybody that this dream had happened and the interpretation was pretty clear to everybody around that his family was gonna bow to him now.

He's been sold and he's departed and he's gone out into and been sold into Egypt. Do you think that maybe that had some kind of a Figured into his psyche figured into the way that he felt in the way that he thought going on into this.

Wondering is that really going to happen? Was that a God-given dream? Was that something that God was telling me? Is that? Moving us forward. He had believed those dreams were true at least enough to tell others.

But I wonder how often those dreams fueled his hope during the long years of servitude that he has in a foreign land. Well verse 2 lets us know that in no uncertain terms. That the Lord Yahweh the formal name of God that he reveals and gives to Moses who is our who is our author? of this book.

That that God Yahweh was with Joseph he directly states that God is present with him as he goes and departs into Egypt and It seems like at first glance and I'm using my words carefully. It seems like the presence of God gave him success as we read this.

Right, isn't that the way that it strikes us at first that the presence of God gives him success. He was indeed blessed right don't we see that in the text and his role was to serve within the house of Potiphar now I cannot overstate how important that phrase is in the scope of this historical context that he served within the house of Potiphar.

Now just if you were to just think just just at first if I were to ask you What do you think of when you hear Egypt's probably a lot of people will come up with? Pyramids, okay. How much labor and work did it take to produce the pyramids?

What did the average slave in? Egypt do during this era in this time made bricks cut rock. Pushed it on huge logs to roll it into place and how many of you might just kind of guess that the life expectancy of a slave doing that kind of labor and the Hot Sun in Egypt out in the desert might not be very long.

So is it do you see anything of God's grace that Joseph is? Sold into the house of the captain of the guard and Works in his house. That's a pretty I mean out of all the slave labor in Egypt. He is sold into the house of a man who needs someone to serve within his House it shows the hand of God on Joseph that he got an inside job.

Now it might be wise for us to pause here and begin to set the record straight at the beginning. Because the text tells us that the Lord was with Joseph and He became a successful man. And so our prosperous American minds immediately assume that the presence of the Lord caused the prosperity.

That he prospered and had success because of the presence of the Lord. But I would suggest to you that it is always the will of the Lord that brings about prosperity. And not his presence That brings about prosperity.

It is not as if the presence of God in a person's life automatically results in health wealth fame. Favor with others if you don't get this, right. Then you are going to be coming up against real life and your faith with God consistently.

Are you getting what I'm saying in this if you believe that that if God is present with you Then everything's gonna work out fine. Then the flip side of that you begin to believe is true also and that is if things aren't going right.

Then God must be absent from me. Are you getting what I'm saying in that and that's dangerous theology. That's actually what's called the prosperity gospel that if you if you believe enough Then you will be healed if you believe enough and you will be wealthy if you believe enough.

Then you will have no problems in life. And I I don't know how you can reconcile that and Believe in the cross of Jesus Christ where his only son died for us. Suffered at the hands of sinful men and died and how can you how can you reconcile the true gospel?

Where pain and suffering is indeed a very real part of it and this prosperity gospel that says well if God is in it Then there will be no pain if God is in it, then there will be no suffering. Are we gonna see some suffering in the life of Joseph here?

Do you experience some suffering in your life those of you who have given your life to Christ and you were walking with him and You are you were connected with him. Do you experience some suffering up?

We have to make sense of that God's will brings about prosperity. Let me put it this way if God desires and wills us to have wealth. Then we will have wealth if he wills us to have fame. Then we will have fame.

If he desires for us to have health then we will have health. Getting it. It's his will not just strictly his presence so I'd encourage us all to be cautious with the assumption that God is present is I'm sorry that God is absent from your life when bad is happening to you and Also equally I would caution you from assuming that he must have shown up When things are going your way.

As a matter of fact, sometimes I've identified that sometimes things go my way because I force it. Have you ever noticed that there's that component there, too. So a caution about the assumption that it's just the presence of God that brings about prosperity now.

We're gonna see some things that happen internally. We're gonna see that his heart is indeed affected by the presence of God. And that's what I would suggest to you is that it's not our circumstances that change in the presence of God but our hearts.

Change the our ability to handle the hardship our ability to process it and to thrive in the midst of difficulty as a result of God's presence with us. So verse 3 lets us know it helps us to understand this clearly that the Lord was indeed responsible for the success of Joseph he blessed him it was his will and His master was able to make some kind of correlation between the success of Joseph and the Lord others watching him.

Potiphar being an Egyptian probably worshipped Ra and Osiris and all of these different Gods of Egypt and yet he was able to identify something about Joseph that he said God your God is with you. You could see that and tell that.

That correlation was made. Many have suggested and I think correctly that Joseph must have lived out some form of spiritual life. There during this time of slavery in Egypt. He made it clear that he was a man after God in some way shape or form.

Potiphar had some reason. To draw the conclusion that God was behind Joseph's success now. There's there's all different kinds of options here. The text is not explicit. Maybe Joseph directly stated it.

Maybe he said God is with me and God has told me he would be with me and so he said that with his mouth or maybe Potiphar would catch Joseph praying at the start of every day or he had some Kind of a spiritual life in which it was obvious to his master that this man is a man after this God.

I don't understand, but I don't really know him, but he worships a God and he is the one responsible. Maybe Joseph was eager and willing at every turn to try to tell people about the glory of the God of Israel.

Have you ever noticed that when you leave? This country some of you have traveled or when you leave your area or whatever that you suddenly become more fiercely loyal to your country. Have any of you experienced that kind of like travel loyalty that all of a sudden you are an American to the core?

Okay, maybe some of you are kind of like. Maybe it's the flip side for some of you like you're embarrassed of your country when you travel. I don't know, but it can kind of affect you either way but there there can be some loyalty that kind of.

That you that you kind of dig in a little bit more and become more entrenched when you actually are Forced to think about things from different perspectives and I don't know what it was for Joseph. But he definitely is identifying that the blessings that he has are not he hasn't earned them.

He hasn't gained them, but they are coming from the Lord. And that is something that's worth considering for each one of us. Potiphar didn't give Joseph the ultimate credit for the blessing that came on his household, but he recognized that it flowed from Joseph's God.

So who gets the credit for our success? Something fundamental that we've got to contemplate and consider in our lives. We I mean, I hope you have some successes. I hope you have some things that are succeeding in your life.

Whether that's in internal family relationships that are being healed or are going well. Or even some business transactions that are going well or whatever it might be. But where's the credit go ultimately in your life for those things and could someone.

Could someone actually say I see the hand of God in your life. I see I see his will in blessing you because they I because they've actually heard you give God credit for those things. They've actually identified that you're a person of God and they see that who gets the credit for our success in verse 4.

There's a there's the verb attended for what joseph does for the house of potiphar. He attended and then we also see a title given to him overseer of his house. Now he is raised up from just routine servant to a high standing.

Immediately in verse 4 in the house of potiphar those show amazing favor that he had gained in potiphar's house. He has given the role of chief steward of the house. For those of you that have watched downton abbey.

He has become the mr. Carson. Okay, a few of you have seen it those of you that haven't you're just gonna have to be satisfied with me saying He's the chief butler and you don't even know what that means because you haven't watched downton abbey.

But um Mr. Carson is no in that in that in that tv show. He's the one who both interacts with the royalty. Uh that the chief of the estate and interacts with the help and is kind of the go-between. He's the butler.

He's the one the family confides in him different things asks his advice for things. And yet he is quartered with the help and with the servants and that's what we that's probably a pretty decent picture.

Of what joseph was like in this household of an of an old english estate with a butler. The lord blessed the house of potiphar on account of joseph the text goes on to say his flocks and field. Produced in abundance and the household he was blessed in house and field.

His household was managed with effectiveness and efficiency and things went well for potiphar on account of joseph. But not just on account of joseph, but on account of joseph's god. This reminds me of the way that god often blesses those who bless his people.

That's a theme and I don't know if you ever followed that theme through scripture, but it but it occurs often. This is part of the promise that was given to abraham that god would bless those who blessed his people and curse those who cursed His people and this is something that is not just an old testament concept for the people of israel.

But it's something that's carried forward into the new testament. Jesus himself talks about this kind of reward to those who bless those who are his even in matthew 10. Jesus promised rewards for those who would bless his servants.

He says if you bless a prophet if you give a meal to a prophet. Then you will receive a prophet's reward. It's as if you have been the prophet as well. He even said that just merely giving a cup of cold water to one of his disciples.

Would not go without reward. So if you acknowledge the the spirit of god alive and those who are ministering and you bless them. Then you'll receive the blessing for the same ministry that they're doing.

Are you getting what i'm saying? And so in a sense, I mean think about this in the in terms of global ministry. Now most of us cannot you know. Do what we do day in and day out and be a part of what's going on in turkey with the kurds who have been here to speak or to Go with allison downing who's going to go for a year and be a minister at university of michigan campus with campus crusade.

Well used to be campus crusade. It's now crew. And they changed their name but working with how many you think there might be some darkness at u-m. Okay, I cheer for their football teams. But i'm telling you that there's some darkness on that campus and there's an opportunity to bring the gospel and that's something that you and I can't do on a regular basis, but we can support these ministries and support these individuals and in a sense we get some Benefit as if we have actually gone with them by by helping them and aiding them along in the process.

Are you getting what i'm saying in that? And so there's an opportunity that we have to to come behind different ministries and and even to bless Around the world in a way that we can't physically be present, but we can be present in support and help.

Joseph’s Dependability, Beauty, and the Temptation to Adultery

Okay. Now we need to keep in mind that joseph is not working for a salary here all throughout this text. Okay, he's not working for a salary. He is a slave. In a technical ancient sense. He is not climbing a corporate ladder.

He is not gaining significant Uh remuneration for his work and his efforts. So how many of you might think in a context like that? It might be easy to slack and just do the minimum required of you. Some some.

It might be easy to do that. I'm admitting that it might be easy to do that as long as you know. I mean, maybe there's a whip involved. I don't know but um at this point it seems like it would be um easy to Not have the mindset of climbing.

He is owned by potiphar. And yet he clearly has a heart. Not just behavior, but he has a heart for his master's blessing. As deplorable as slavery is joseph has a choice in front of him in this text. He can become bitter.

He can become angry. He could become belligerent. He could look for opportunities to rebel against his master. He could be looking for opportunities to escape and run back to israel or He can choose to stay.

Bless his master and shine the presence of god in his life to others around him. Joseph proved himself to be so dependable that potiphar had no worries about anything under his care. Now I use the word dependable here, but by the end of the message I'm going to point out to you that we don't see the words faithful.

We don't see the words dependable. We don't see any character qualities of joseph mentioned in the text and that's for good reason. It's going to be at the application at the end. But let me say that there is something that is so refreshing about a dependable person.

How many of you work with. How many of you how many go ahead and raise your hand if you work with somebody you can think of somebody right now. That is dependable. Maybe some of you are raising your hand for yourself.

I don't know. Um, but uh. But maybe you are really I mean, you know that you know that if you're the kind of person that that when a project a Job, uh, you know somebody somebody emails you or sends you a memo and says hey I need this done by tomorrow and then they can wipe their hands of it and it's going to be done tomorrow and the other Person can just completely vacate that from their mind.

It's off their to-do to-do list because they gave it to you or gave it to this other individual and that person is dependable. How many of you like that quality in another person? How many of you love that quality in a co-worker?

Okay. How about a direct report somebody who reports to you that has that kind of dependability? You're like, yes. Thank you. Okay. So having somebody I mean we we love that and we. We we long for that certainly in others.

People who say they will do it. And it gets done. No need to follow up. No need to check it. No need to worry about it. And I would encourage you all to strive to be that kind of man or woman in all arenas of your lives all arenas of your Lives, I mean there's all different kinds of aspects to this.

There's there's the work Place there's home. How many of you know that even in our social lives there needs to be some level of dependability. You say you're gonna meet a friend for dinner. And you don't show up.

That's that's that's kind of lame, right? You say you're gonna meet somebody to go mountain biking and you don't show. Or you're a half an hour late consistently that gets kind of lame. And so there's a level of dependability that is beneficial and the fact is that this Certainly comes more natural to certain personalities than it does to others.

Some of us have to work at it harder than others. Some of you have a very analytical organized mind calendar just makes sense. You just you could spit out your calendar on monday without looking at any device.

I can't do that. I need to set alarms for myself and things like that and some of you can relate to what i'm talking about. But in this context the only thing that potter had to concern himself with because he's entrusted Joseph who's being blessed by god with dependability and faithfulness.

The only thing he had to worry about was his own personal care. There's a figure of speech used for this. Um, and uh, it's kind of it's it's kind of a humorous figure of speech. The only thing he had to worry about was the food he ate now.

He kind of like well, why is he worrying about food? What's going on? Well, the famine is going to come later. But um when it says the food he ate that's a that's a figure of speech in hebrew. That means all he had to worry about was getting his fork to his mouth.

It's about it. Okay. So it's a way of saying This dude had nothing to worry about because joseph was in charge of the household. All he had to do was. And how much work does that take? Okay, you're getting what i'm saying?

Probably if he had asked joseph joseph would have taken care of that, too so, um. All this is again just an extreme level of joseph's God-blessed god-given dependability. So anybody thinking joseph sounds like a pretty cool guy.

Like joseph's awesome, but I haven't even shared with you this next part. Joseph is joseph is fabio. Okay, he's a good looking man. Now. I say fabio. I don't know I don't know. Maybe some of you women could come up with a different name for me than that.

But um, he's he's uh,. He's a good looking guy and the same words that were used to describe his mother. Remember how how lovely and how attractive rachel was spoken of in the text the same words are used for him in a masculine sense.

So the dude is chiseled. He's ripped. He's uh, apparently a hottie and um. This seems like it might be one blessing too many. Because of what comes next in the text and so certainly blessed with Attractiveness and how many of you know that attractiveness can be a blessing and a curse.

Raise your hand because you know, yeah pete pete. You just can't relate to that one. So Gotcha. It is it's a curse. It's a curse. I have to bear one day one day while. One day while joseph is out cleaning the pool I I went there.

The cougar. The cougar comes out to attack Potiphar's wife notices notices the butler has six-pack abs or something. She cast she casts her eyes on him. This is a word that is always used lustfully. It's always used inappropriately in hebrew.

It always has the notion of a lustful or greedy longing for something that you should not have to cast the eyes on. And one day she outright propositions him her statement is brash direct short and demanding and in this Context you must remember.

What is the office? Of joseph slave. Who is his master? Potiphar and family and he has just been issued a command by one of the family. I only point that out in this context to say he has a lot to lose by saying no as a matter of fact.

Do you realize how completely awkward and difficult this? This situation puts Joseph, what how how crazy the situation is? I mean if he says no now he's jilted his master's wife if he says yes, he's he's sinned against god.

He's sinned against and so can you kind of see how he's in basically a lose-lose situation from this point forward. Do you get that? He's in trouble either way. And so when I say that his good looks might have been one blessing too many.

I mean it I mean, this has gotten this has gotten him down a road that is going to be hard to come back from. Certainly on his own it would be almost impossible. This is Toying with what I even say this is kind of like a boss asking you to do something unethically.