“But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men 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.” Genesis 39:11-12
We’ve made a big deal of pointing out that Joseph’s situation at the time of Potiphar’s wife making her advance on him was remarkably low. By any standard, especially the modern one, Joseph was in as low a position a guy could be in. The only bright spot was that he was a slave who, by God’s sovereign direction, was rewarded for excellent stewardship and put in charge of everything in the house except for his master’s diet. He was a slave, yes, but at least he wasn’t pounding rocks in the Egyptian sun. Other than that, though, there’s hardly a bright spot.
So, the question begs: how is it that a young man who’s getting beat up by life has the inner strength to resist so powerful a temptation as this one? A young fella’s sex drive is usually a good part of his mental landscape, after all. He thinks of sports and competitive things in whatever field he’s in. Stuff like that.
And women.
But in his case, Joseph had loads of time to dwell on his many troubles. How is it that he found a path that led him away from incessant rehearsal of the hurt of his brothers’ betrayal, the journey into captivity, the humiliations that compounded, and all the emotional loss of never being able to go home again? We know that sin lurks in bitterness. It’s a fungus that grows in the deep and sunless places of our frustrated desires, the losses, and a slight here and there. Sin is the whisper, the hiss in our ear that encourages faith’s great enemy: resentment. It’s the false advice of the Enemy that there’s no hope for the future, only pain, only loss, and so you deserve it. It’s the obsession that your life isn’t fair. You deserve to, well, you know…sin, er, I mean, get your way. We never call it sin when we’re doing it. This is the logic of hell, not the hope of heaven.
Faith is, on the other hand, eschatological and immediate. Faithful living for Christ is and must be fueled by proper eschatological focus because only then do we avoid the twin terrors of resentment or defeatism.
And these must be dealt with prior to temptation!
What this means is that the promises of Scripture are to be taken seriously by the Christian. It also means that so are the warnings.
To diminish the word of the Lord to mere good advice, or helpful suggestions, is to flirt with chaos both inside and out. It’s to try and dance with two partners, the world and the Lord…and Christ is not some beta male simp to be strung along. He’s the Alpha male of all and the obedience of faith means taking seriously the promises of blessing upon us when we live in accordance to the principles of His word/law. This was exactly what Joseph did while in what many of us would have considered utter abandonment. Joseph’s attitude wasn’t one of despair precisely because of his theology, which was rich in both the sovereignty and goodness of God as witnessed in his later statement that “what you meant for evil, God meant for good.”
The bottom line is that whatever position we find ourselves in is a position over which God has command.
The antidote to all anxiety is theology, not psychology; it’s sound doctrine, not pharmaceuticals.
If God created the whole world then that must mean He’s in control of every aspect. If He didn’t, we’re alone in a very cruel place. Bad theology/doctrine isn’t a neutral thing. It has grave consequences and most of us try to live in the barren shadowland between faith and unbelief while calling Him Lord. It simply won’t do. Our response to trials is what shows us what we actually believe all the way down.
This modern heresy of calling Jesus Lord because we like the church life, and we adore the manners and the music, and the belonging, is not walking in faith. We are not Christians because we go to church or any other thing. We are Christians because we believe God. We are Christians because we agree with God. We’re Christians because God has poured His love into us and given us new hearts that hate sin and love His righteousness. The Bible is about man’s utter ruin in sin and God’s perfect remedy for it in Christ, Donald Grey Barnhouse once said. This is the Christian truth of truths.
On that point, Barnhouse was once asked, along with some other preachers, what a city would look like if Satan owned it totally. The other men of God, perhaps naive, or worse, deceived in their hearts, all painted a picture of a trashed city with porn shops, gambling, alcohol and drugs, mean men swearing and defiant. Barnhouse, though, said otherwise.
A truly Devil’s city would be one of self-righteousness. He said:
“If Satan took over a city, all of the bars would be closed, pornography banished, and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other.
There would be no swearing. The children would say “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am,” and the churches would be full every Sunday…where Christ was not preached.”
A man is the Devil’s man who thinks he is doing alright. A man or woman who doesn’t tremble before the throne of grace, shattered to the core over her offense to the thrice holy God, won’t know what it’s like for their hearts to soar as they’re lifted into the Savior’s embrace by His grace. By His love. Cheap grace is a contradiction in terms. There’s no such thing. It’s like saying dry rain. Only the broken sinner knows amazing grace. The pride of men is what nailed Jesus to the cross and precisely what keeps us from kneeling there before Him seeking that precious grace that alone saves.
Oh, the horror of self-righteous blindness!
The Devil’s man is sure he’s saved because he’s okay, he’s alright, he’s done this and that. He grades himself on the curve and others on that razor’s edge of pride’s vicious standard. He’ll claim he’s a Christian all while reading people his resume of righteousness and crucifying others on that cross of his humanistic standard. No one measures up except for self. Watch him when he’s angry and doesn’t get his way: pride, pride, and pride. No one gets mercy because he is the judge. No one understands except for him because his standard is forever shifting to his needs. No one speaks the truth because no one’s motive is pure, which is to say no one’s motive is for him.
And such is his tongue an open grave, full of curses and bitterness over against all who dare get in his way or cross him. He doesn’t bless, he slanders. He doesn’t pray, he speaks to himself and uses God’s name!
It is such that you see that Joseph wasn’t that man because even in the deepest trial, he serves Potiphar his pagan owner because he sees Potiphar as he should: as God’s instrument. Joseph doesn’t presume to know God’s mind (Romans 11:33-36) but humbly accepts his position and awaits God’s righteous decree.
Humble yourself and you’ll be exalted. Joseph’s story is a powerful example of this biblical truth. We know this line but hate the reality and would rather talk about the blessings and promises while steadfastly refusing to submit to God’s law of patient and expectant faith.
So, Joseph was able to resist the easy lure of sin because he was busy being faithful. If we mistake faith with a form of passivity we will struggle mightily with sin. Faithfulness is being happily busy with the work the Lord puts in front of you right now. It’s that simple and that hard. Let us all see our daily work as a blessing when done in the right spirit.
Faithfulness to the Lord is obeying Him. And what does He command? Slack work? We read that he who is lazy and poor at their job is a brother to one who destroys (Proverbs 18:9). What’s the exception? There is none. The Bible doesn’t recognize any situation in which the Lord smiles upon grumbling, complaining, and the resultant poor work ethic. Joseph’s story is, therefore, a stellar example of faithfulness through great trials and how that simple faith works itself out with work ethic. Honest and productive work is itself a bulwark over against temptation.
How?
Because sin, James tells us, is the result of our passion, not our faith. To be led by one’s passion and ambition is to recognize one’s heart as epistemic lord rather than the Lord. Willful disobedience by an employee will not be blessed by the Lord since that is the result of lack of trust in God. One considers that they deserve this or that and when frustrated, they use the slight, real or imagined, as a pretext for poor work ethic. This is a way of saying to God that He’s not sovereign and/or good. And this will leave us vulnerable to the great lion who’s roaming around seeking those whom he might devour.
Joseph’s story teaches us that in our struggles we learn obedience. We learn that when grumbling and complaining are present, prayer is not. And where there’s no honest prayer, there’s no faithful living. And that opens the door to great, presumptuous sin.
Arrogance is the enemy of faith, so let us all watch carefully what frustrates us and critically how we react when frustrated. Let us pray in all circumstances, but especially in and through the tough things.
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