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Genesis 40:4-8: Noticing.

“The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.After they had been in custody for some time, ⁵ each of the two men – the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison – had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.⁶ When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, ‘Why do you look so sad today?’⁸ ‘We both had dreams,’ they answered, ‘but there is no one to interpret them.’Then Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.’ ” NIV

‘’…he saw that they were dejected…Why are your faces so sad today?’’ (6,7).

Joseph was not so obsessed with his own troubles that he failed to notice the needs of others. We could say that he showed ‘emotional intelligence.’ He saw all was not well with these two, and he cared enough to ask them about it. He could have been so preoccupied with his own unjust treatment that he failed to see, or couldn’t be bothered. But by God’s grace he was not like that at all.

Two quotes from F.B.Meyer seem appropriate:

‘He was quick to sympathise and comfort – Quick to notice the traces of sorrow because he had sorrowed; able to sympathise because he had wept; adept at comforting because he had been comforted of God. We gain comfort when we attempt to comfort. Out of such intercourse we get what Joseph got – the keys which will unlock the heavy doors by which we have been shut in. Light a fire in another’s heart, and your own heart will be warmed.’

‘A new interest came into his life, and he almost forgot the heavy pressure of his own troubles amid the interest of listening to the tales of those who were more unfortunate than himself.’

Tim Chester, in his excellent book ‘You can change’ writes:

‘Sin is fundamentally an orientation towards self. Many of us suffer from self-absorption. We’re preoccupied with our problems and successes. We bring every subject round to our favourite subject: me. Or we develop habits of self-centred ness in which we live for our own comfort and security. Serving God and other people can redirect us outwards, taking our attention away from ourselves… God made us to love him and love others. We become the people we were meant to be by serving others. When we ‘pour ourselves out’ we find ourselves filled up.’ (Pages 158, 159).

PRAYER: Lord, please forgive me for my self-absorption. Give me eyes to see the needs of those I rub shoulders with today, and a heart that cares. Help me to serve them in your Name.

Genesis 40:4b-8: Prison ministry.

“The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time, ⁵ each of the two men – the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison – had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. ⁶ When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, ‘Why do you look so sad today?’ ⁸ ‘We both had dreams,’ they answered, ‘but there is no one to interpret them.’ NIV

Then Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.’

Somebody said that it doesn’t matter who commands you so long as God controls you. In prison, Joseph was a good servant. I will say more about this tomorrow.

I always want to make the point that in prison Joseph was a good witness. He spoke to his fellow-prisoners about God. He brought God into the conversation at an appropriate place. He pointed to God, not to himself. He gave God all the glory for his gifts, but he certainly used them. Spiritual gifts are not to be confined to ‘in church’. They can be exercised, even in the darkest places of life.

PRAYER: Lord, please forgive me for the many occasions I have failed to speak about you when I could and should have. Please help me to be alert to any such opportunities in the future, and to grasp them. Indeed, please create them. Thank you for the privilege of speaking into people’s lives a word from you.

Genesis 40:1-4a: The same prison.

“Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³ and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴ The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time,” NIV

It was a ‘divine appointment’ that these three men should find themselves in the same prison at the same time. Joseph was gifted to be able to supernaturally speak into the lives of his fellow-inmates, and the cupbearer would be in a position to help Joseph, when he eventually remembered him. This was not a random encounter. It was not down to chance.God arranged it that these three men should be in a dungeon together. Such a God can be trusted.

Prayer: Father God, please forgive me for my many anxieties about life. Thank you that you providentially arrange the details of my moments and days. I look forward to meeting the people you will bring across my path this week, and ask that I may serve them in your Name. I also thank you that you will bring good things into my life through others. Help me to graciously receive as well as give. Sometimes it’s harder to do.

Genesis 39:13-23: Pointing the finger.

^“13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, ¹⁴ she called her household servants. ‘Look,’ she said to them, ‘this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.’ ¹⁶ She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him this story: ‘That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. ¹⁸ But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.’ ¹⁹ When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, ‘This is how your slave treated me,’ he burned with anger. ²⁰ Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, ²¹ the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warder. ²² So the warder put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. ²³ The warder paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” NIV

Taking the story at face value, Potiphar’s wife was the only guilty party. But she blamed Joseph. There is also a suggestion that she tried to pin some blame on her husband: ‘’That Hebrew slave you brought us…This is how your slave treated me’’ (17,19). She was distancing herself as much as possible from the mess she had made. It was someone else’s fault!

Don’t you hear echoes of the garden of Eden, where Adam had the audacity to blame God for fixing him up with Eve in the first place: ‘’The woman you put here with me…’’ (Gen.3:12)? You can hear the inference there can’t you? ‘If you hadn’t married me off to Eve in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened!!’

 We recognise this all too human trait – fallen humanity that is. It is one of the many faces sin wears: that of the finger pointer. Somebody said the only way sin can leave the human body is through the mouth, as it is confessed to God. So long as we play the blame game we can’t find forgiveness.

It may be that Potiphar did not totally believe his wife. Possibly he had his doubts, because he did not have Joseph executed, which would have been the usual punishment for rape in that culture. Effectively, that was the charge against Joseph – that he attempted it. Instead of incurring the death sentence, he was imprisoned, and later Potiphar gave him responsibilities in the prison (40:4; see 39:1).

Even so, we feel sad, even outraged, at the thought of the injustice to Joseph. But even in jail, God was working for his good (Romans 8:28), and for the blessing of many others. It was like a re-run of what had already happened in Potiphar’s home (2-6). We have a sense that this is not the end of the story, and there are better times to come.

Once again, Joseph reminds us of Jesus – the only truly innocent Victim. For although Joseph was not guilty as charged, he was still a sinful man. But consider Jesus (1 Peter 2:2ff) who ‘’committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’’ Jesus is the supreme example of innocent suffering, but He came through it into glory. Centuries earlier, Joseph travelled a similar path, as we will see.

Genesis 39:11-12: A fatal collision.

Matthew Henry comments that is better to lose a good coat than a good conscience!       We have seen that Joseph had experienced a barrage of temptation ‘’day after day’’ (10). But the day came when temptation and opportunity collided. That is liable to be a fatal collision. But it doesn’t have to be. Again, as Matthew Henry says, Joseph showed ‘resolute chastity.’

The house was empty. Who would know? Well, Joseph and Mrs P would know for starters, and would have to live with their decision. But also, God would know…and truth has a way of coming out. So although Joseph had the chance to sin, he fled from it, and has left an example of what is possible.

I believe we are meant to see that Joseph resisted because the Lord was with him. He had God’s enabling power. Yet the onus was still on him to fight – and fight he did. He did not allow sin to have dominion over him (Romans 6).

Genesis 39:6b-10: You only.

“Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, ⁷ and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’⁸ 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. ⁹ 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?’ ¹⁰ And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even to be with her.” NIV

In Psalm 51:4 David wrote: ‘’Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…’’

 He wrote this helpful prayer of confession and repentance after committing adultery with Bathsheba. David had, obviously, sinned against the woman he slept with. He also sinned against her husband (in more ways than one, if you know the story.) He sinned against himself too (1 Corinthians 6:18). But he was aware that, ultimately, all sin is against God.

The same attitude was in Joseph. If he’d gone to bed with Potiphar’s wife, he also would have sinned against her, and her husband, and himself. But he was so aware of the vertical dimension of sin (9), and it helped him to dig in his heels and repeatedly ‘refuse’ (8, 10) her advances. The temptation was persistent and insistent (10). How many days did this go on? We don’t know, but we do know that, with a sense of accountability towards his earthly master (8,9a), but above all to His Divine King (9b), he resisted the devil.

Verse 10 makes me think about words attributed to Martin Luther: ‘You can’t prevent the birds flying about your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.’

PRAYER: Lord, I know that some temptation is inevitable in this broken world. But as far as it lies with me, help me to avoid situations where I’m going to be tempted and I’m likely to fall.

Genesis 39:6b,7: The eye-gate.

“Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, ⁷ and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’” NIV

Commenting on this passage, Matthew Henry points out how much temptation comes via the ‘eye-gate’. He refers to Job 31:1:

‘’I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.’’

 If we would guard our hearts, we must be careful about what we allow our eyes to see (and our minds to dwell on).

The apostle John denotes ‘’the lust of the eyes’’ as one facet of worldliness (1 John 2:16). This, of course, is not limited to sexual temptation, but it is obviously applicable to it. But it’s important to say that our eyes see many things we go on to ‘’lust’’ after. The advertisers know about this and are magicians with images.

To guard your heart you must guard your eyes. Trust the Holy Spirit to help you. He will.

Genesis 39:1-6: Taken to Egypt.

“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. ² The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, ⁴ Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. ⁵ 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. ⁶ So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,” NIV

‘’Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt…’’ (1).

It was not by his own choice that he was there. He was forced to go. Furthermore, it was a downward step. His dreams had told him of a great destiny awaiting; they had spoken of upward mobility. But he found himself in a downward spiral. Socially he fell so far as to become a house slave. The princely robe was now way behind him. It had had been ripped from his shoulders. Now he was lost in a foreign land, and who would ever find him? Who could know he was there?

But although it was not his choice to be in Egypt, he served with such diligence, under the blessing of God, that he flourished. He was blessed, and He was a blessing.

You may find yourself today in a place (geographically or circumstantially) you have not chosen. Maybe, too, there is no obvious indication that you can or should move. What should you do? Sit on your hands and wait it out? No, what better place to serve than where you find yourself right now?

One day, the Lord may move you on. But don’t waste time waiting for a day in the future (a day that might never come). Use the opportunities to serve right now, right where you are.

Alistair Begg says, ‘The best place to serve the Lord is wherever He sets you down.’

PRAYER: Lord, help me please to joyfully, lovingly and faithfully serve you wherever you take me. It is a privilege to serve you anywhere. Enable me to see that and believe it.

Genesis 38:11-30: Pointing the finger.

“Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, ‘Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.’ For he thought, ‘He may die too, just like his brothers.’ So Tamar went to live in her father’s household. ¹² After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him. ¹³ When Tamar was told, ‘Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,’ ¹⁴ she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ Not realising that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, ‘Come now, let me sleep with you.’ ‘And what will you give me to sleep with you?’ she asked. ¹⁷ ‘I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,’ he said.‘Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?’ she asked.¹⁸ He said, ‘What pledge should I give you?’‘Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,’ she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. ¹⁹ After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.²⁰ Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. ²¹ He asked the men who lived there, ‘Where is the shrine-prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?’‘There hasn’t been any shrine-prostitute here,’ they said.²² So he went back to Judah and said, ‘I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, “There hasn’t been any shrine-prostitute here.”’²³ Then Judah said, ‘Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughing-stock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.’²⁴ About three months later Judah was told, ‘Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.’Judah said, ‘Bring her out and let her be burned to death!’²⁵ As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. ‘I am pregnant by the man who owns these,’ she said. And she added, ‘See if you recognise whose seal and cord and staff these are.’²⁶ Judah recognised them and said, ‘She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.’ And he did not sleep with her again.²⁷ When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. ²⁸ As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, ‘This one came out first.’ ²⁹ But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, ‘So this is how you have broken out!’ And he was named Perez. ³⁰ Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.”NIV

It’s been said that whenever you point a finger at someone else, you point three back at yourself. Why is it that we condemn so vehemently the sins in others we know to be in ourselves (24)? Judah was outraged at the misbehaviour of his daughter-in-law, but didn’t seem concerned about his own antics. At least, not until he was forced to take a look in the mirror (26). Judah did not intend to commit incest, but he was okay, it appears, with fornication. Gordon Wenham, in the ‘New Bible Commentary’, suggests one reason for the inclusion of this story, at this point in Genesis, is to prepare the way for the softer Judah we run into in chapter 44. He was severely chastened, it would seem, by this experience. He got his fingers badly burned.

When we fail to do right by others, we may be the cause of their stumbling. I don’t say this to excuse Tamar’s conduct. She didn’t have to do what she did. But Judah toyed with her regarding his son ‘’Shelah’’ (11, 26). He fuelled her sense of desperation; drove her into a corner. Doesn’t it encourage you, though, to see Tamar in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:3)? The characters we read about in the Bible are not paragons of virtue, but many of them stand out as ‘monuments of mercy’, as someone put it. Jesus came to save the ‘Tamar’s’ of this world; He came to save the likes of you and me.

PRAYER: Thank you Lord, for your ‘amazing grace’.