Genesis 46-50: The End of the Beginning

Pastor Scott Jonas

7/29/18

Genesis 46-50

The End of the Beginning

This is our last week in Genesis.  I call it “The End of the Beginning.”  Last week, we told the story of Joseph and his brothers.  God used Joseph to bring forgiveness and restoration to his family.  I urged you to be God’s ambassador for your relatives.  I saw a lot of wet eyes at the communion rail, which is a good thing.  God wants to turn your sorrow into joy. 

Joseph’s story is very meaningful but it’s easy to say as Lutherans, “Where is Jesus?”  Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith.  His life, death and resurrection are our central identity as the church.  AS Lutherans you’ve been trained to find Jesus on every page of the Bible.  I can confirm, he is there.  The New is the Old Concealed.  The New is the Old Revealed.  When we read the Old Testament and specifically Genesis, God is preparing us to meet our Lord and Savior.  If you know Jesus then Genesis should be familiar like a favorite tune from years gone by.  If you know Genesis then Jesus is the remix that improves on the original.

If Genesis was the only book of the Bible that someone read they would be ready to recognize Jesus.  The whole salvation story is there if you dig down deep.  Like digging a well down deep.  Let’s review.  God was the maker of heaven and earth.  Everything was good and in the right place but Adam and Eve whacked it all off kilter.  They left the Garden, One son murdered his brother, civilization eventually tried to build a tower to the sky.  It was almost as if people were trying to escape a broken creation.  Out of that mess, God chose one family.  From that family he will save the world.  The Father of this family miraculously had a son.  That son had another son.  Eventually, a son was born who would save the world.  He brought forgiveness, prosperity, health and well being.  People from all over bowed down to him starting with the 12.  Who am I talking about.  On the count of three say of whom you are thinking? 1,2,3.

That’s right.  It could be Joseph.  It could be Jesus.  Their lives match.  They are dopplegangers.  Our Heavenly Father orchestrated human history to give us a preview of the New Testament.  Joseph’s life was a foreshadowing.  Those who paid attention recognized him.  If you are paying attention you will recognize him too.  Look at all of the similarities. 

Joseph and Jesus were the favorites of their Father and because of that they were hated.  Joseph’s brothers thought he was a worthless dreamer.  Jesus’ brothers thought he was out of his mind.  Both were foretold to rule one day.  Joseph was taken by force to Egypt.  Jesus was taken by his father Joseph to Egypt to escape the villainous Herod.  They were both supernaturally blessed by God, everything they touched prospered.  They were the ultimate servants.  They provided for all who were hungry and weary.  One stored more grain than could be counted.  The other was the Bread of life.  Because of Joseph and Jesus’ connection to the Father they could tell the future.  They both  resisted temptation.  Jesus in the desert and Joseph in Potiphar’s bedroom.  Ultimately the hate directed at them led to a murderous conspiracy.  They were both betrayed for a bag full of silver.  Their peers rejected them and condemned them to die at the hands of gentiles. They were stripped of their clothing and left to die.

But Joseph and Jesus both overcame death.  Joseph was raised from a well and Jesus was raised from a grave.  Joseph’s brothers did not recognize him in Egypt when they stood in line for food.  Jesus’

Disciples talked with him on the road to Emmaus but his identity remained hidden for a while.  Joseph’s brothers bowed to him as Pharaoh’s Viceroy.  After the resurrection, Jesus met the disciples and said, “Greetings” and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him.  Likewise, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers saying, “I am Joseph.”  I told them to come near and make sure just as Thomas would do thousands of years later.  They kissed and wept.

                Isn’t that amazing,  the organization Jews for Jesus publishes 27 parallels between Joseph and Jesus.  That is no coincidence.  God the Father orchestrates history.  With a wave of his wand, he makes sure events happen.  A wave of the wand and Joseph has dreams.  Another wave and Joseph knows their meaning.  A wave and 7 years of plenty.  A wave and Potiphar’s wife loses her inhibitions.  A wave, a wave and more waves.  The complex music of millennia goes on just as the Lord planned it.

                The climax of this piece was Jesus’ life.  All before it was done with the climax in mind.  The Denouement after resonates from it.  That includes your life.  If God can orchestrate Joseph and Jesus as the opening and climax of Salvation history, don’t you think he can orchestrate your life.  You are born into your family of origen.  You are baptized into the church of God.  You are confirmed.  You suffer and are buried in Junior high and Highschool, but you rise again to a career and a family and a place in a congregation.  When you go to reunion people don’t recognize you but when they do it’s hugs and tears.  Meanwhile the conductor smiles.

                Don’t believe the lie that God is too big and busy to bother with the details of your life.  That kind of God is too small.  Our God, knows everything about you.  There is no note or detail that escapes his ear.  When your life is off key he knows it.  He is turning that off note into beautiful music.  How many people here enjoy singing?  How many don’t enjoy it?  I am in the second category,  I’m not a good singer.  Which becomes more obvious on Saturdays.  But I also realize that the Bible says to make a joyful noise to the Lord.  God takes my awful  singing and transforms it into a joyful noise.  The more of us faithful who sing together the more beautiful it sounds to him.  In the same way, your mistakes in life are being transformed into a divine symphony.

                At the end of Genesis,  Joseph brings his family down to Egypt.  He reunites with his dad.  Jacob, or Israel, is so moved that he says he can die now.  His family moves to Egypt, which many believe is the birthplace of creation.  There they have food, land and a place at Pharaoh’s Table.  There Jacob meets his grandsons Ephraim and Mansseh.  There by the Nile river of life, the patriarch puts his hands on the heads of all of his sons and daughters and speaks words of the covenant. 

                “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

    the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,

16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;

    and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;

    and let them grow into a multitude[c] in the midst of the earth.”

                Because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection you and I have to look forward to as well.  We will be reuinted with our true family.  There will be hugs and tears of joy.  We will be in the garden again with food, land and a place at the King’s table.  And the Lord’s song will go on forever.”

Genesis 42-45: Joseph and his Brothers

Pastor Scott Jonas

7/22/18

Genesis 42-45

Joseph and his Brothers

            One of the things you learn as a Pastor is that every family is weird and broken.  This includes my greater family.  If you dig deep enough into my family tree you will find alcoholism, dementia, premature death, and divorce.  I’m sure your family history is equally complicated.  Evidently this is a systemic issue for the people of God because our text today describes one messed up family.  The Dad, Jacob, changed his name to Israel.  He has thirteen children but one favorite, Joseph.  This causes so much jealousy that ten of the brothers agree to sell him into slavery.  For over a decade, the brothers keep the secret from their Father and youngest brother.  They pretend that he was killed by a wild animal.  Secrets kill and this family has been dying for a long time.  You think your family is dysfunctional.

            Have you ever had to live with a family secret?  Maybe it wasn’t a secret but no one talked about it.  I know of one family in which the oldest son died in a motorcycle accident in his early twenties.  The mom and dad never talked about him again.  It was just this fog that sat over the home.  It was a sick kind of grief.  Sin and it’s affects can’t be ignored.  They have to be dealt with but some can never get past the denial stage.

            That is the type of home that the brother’s betrayal has created.  The sin against Joseph was never discussed, never repented, never forgiven and never allowed to heal.  The same goes for Joseph in Egypt.  At first, he couldn’t try to restore the relationship, being a slave and all.  But he has been in a position of power for a decade now.  He correctly interpreted 7 years of plenty and is in the middle of 7 years of famine.  Pharaoh is eternally grateful for Joseph’s insight and service.  It has made both of them wealthy men.  Certainly, Pharaoh would have let Joseph travel the 300 miles to Canaan to visit his family if Joseph wanted.  But joseph hasn’t dealt with the trauma, the sin against him and his immaturity that led to it.

            Joseph is so not over his brother’s betrayal that he names his son Manasseh which means “I have forgotten all of my hardship in my father’s house.”  Let me get this right.  He has forgotten his misery so he names his son so that he remembers that he has forgotten it.  Makes no sense.  It’s like naming your daughter after an ex-girlfriend who dumped you because you are so over her.  Or it’s like writing a song “ I ain’t missing you at all.”  The effort shows the opposite.  Joseph has not forgiven and he has not forgotten.

            Meanwhile in the midst of the greatest famine in generations, his father Jacob, says to the ten brothers, “What are you staring at?  What are you waiting for?  The only place with food is a month long ride to Egypt.  Get going.  But don’t take your brother, Benjamin.  He’s all I got left.  Can you imagine?  What about the other ten?  Jacob was his mom’s favorite.  Then Joseph was his favorite.  Now Benjamin.  Family habits are hard to break.

            But maybe there is more than that.  Maybe, since the Joseph tragedy, Jacob has never really trusted the brothers.  Their story sounded rehearsed, the coat felt staged but Jacob couldn’t prove anything.  His intuition has felt that the brothers covered up something terrible.  He certainly is not going to entrust Benjamin with them.  At the same time, Simeon and the brothers aren’t too enthusiastic about traveling south to Egypt.  Too many reminders along the way of their shame.

            But they go and get in line with a caravan.  It seems like the whole world is heading that way.  Once there they get into another line.  Somehow, the brothers are brought to the attention of Joseph.  He recognizes them thirteen years later but they don’t recognize him in his expensive Egyptian garments and Make-up.  He was 17 last time they saw him.  Who knows what Joseph was thinking?  Did his first dream stay on his mind?  Remember how he told his brothers that their sheaves of wheat bowed down to his.  After God interpreted the baker, the cupbearer and Pharaoh’s dreams correctly, did joseph wait for this moment when the first dream would come true?

            Whether it came in the moment or it was a plot long in the making, Joseph pretended to be a stranger to his family.  He plays the part of a high official suspicious of spies.  He accuses them of checking Egypt for vulnerabilities.  He demands to  know their relation to one another.  The brothers answer honestly about them being brothers, one brother is at home and one has died.  Joseph puts them in custody for three days.  Make them feel just a taste of the incarceration that he felt for years.  They are getting off easy.  Then he tells them that Egypt will sell them food but they must prove that they are not spies.  They will leave their brother, Simeon, incarcerated.  If they are spies then they will leave him for dead.  But if they truly are a family then they will come back and bring their youngest brother.  True families will do anything to save each other.

            The brothers have no choice but to agree.  They receive large bags of grain and sadly leave Simeon behind.  They travel wondering how are we going to tell father about this?  He is right not to trust us.  When they bed down the next night, one of them opens the food bags and discovers silver.  Immediately, they feel guilty.  This is a rouse by God to punish them for Joseph.  You can’t ignore sin.  They hurry back home to Jacob.  Jacob is beside himself.  He is reliving the worst kind of trauma.  They have a choice to make: write off their brother Simeon or return to Egypt with Benjamin and face possible execution for theft.  They make the choice they should have made before.  They put their brother’s life ahead of their own.

            They turn around to travel the 300 miles for the third time.  Each step could be closer to their death.  They approach the house of the viceroy.  They laid the silver in front of them plus more.  They bowed down to him.  The second dream came true.  The moon and the Stars bowed down to him.  This is the second time they’ve humbled themselves before their brother.

            Joseph is not ready to forgive.  He saw his brother Benjamin and almost lost it.  Ben had nothing to do with his betrayal.  But Joseph is bound to determine if the others have really changed.  They came back for Simeon, that’s a start.  He invites them to dinner.  But they aren’t allowed to sit at his table because it is an abomination for Egyptians to lower themselves to hillbillies like the Canaanites.  He doesn’t talk to them.  He is ignoring them.

            Joseph is setting them up again.  He has their donkeys mounted with more bags of grain.  They are allowed to leave and take all of the brothers with them.  They get out of there in a hurry, all eleven.  Before they are too far away, Egyptian guards over take them and force them back to the viceroy’s house.  In front of Joseph, the guards open the food bags and the viceroy’s expensive personal cup spills to the floor.  It is in Benjamin’s bag.  Complete silence except the tinking of silver on stone.  The brothers look at the viceroy and know this means death.  They have one move available.  They can throw Benjamin under the bus.  If they blame him, then they live and he dies.  It is 13 years ago all over again. 

            Judah, the oldest, stood in front of Benjamin and pleaded,  “Viceroy, if we don’t return with Benjamin it will kill my father.  We can’t do that to him.  Take me instead.  I will stay and receive the due punishment.”  Joseph knew that his brother’s hearts had changed.  They weren’t the same selfish bunch.  They were ready for forgiveness and healing.  Joseph wept aloud and shouted “I am Joseph!”  They were too shocked to understand.  He made them come right up to him and see his face, “I am the one you sold into slavery.  Stop beating yourself up.  I forgive you.  God sent me here to save lives.  This was all part of his plan.  Go get Dad, bring him and all of your families to Egypt where you will live in health and prosperity. 

            That is family restoration.  It starts with dysfunction.  Then God works repentance and a changed heart.  Then someone needs to make the first move towards forgiveness.  It’s hard.  God is calling you, as far as it is possible to bring forgiveness to your family.  That’s both your family of origen and your second family.  Don’t wallow in dark secrets and grudges.  Allow Jesus to turn death into life. 

Genesis 40-41: Joseph Interprets Dreams

Pastor Scott Jonas

7/15/18

Joseph Interprets Dreams

Genesis 40-41

                Last week, we heard the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife.  She wanted Joseph to be her “Lover boy” as Tim said in the children’s sermon.  He refused because he refused to betray his master and his Lord.  Potiphar did not execute him but put him into prison. 

                Sometime later, he’s talking to two prisoners who are troubled.  They had disturbing dreams and don’t know what they mean.  In Ancient Egypt, dreams were considered the realm of the gods.  There was truth in dreams but you needed a holy person to interpret them.  The first man was Pharaoh’s cupbearer.  He offended his master and was thrown in here.  In his dream, there was a vine with three branches in front of him.  It budded and blossomed and shot forth and became grapes.  The cupbearer had Pharaoh’s cup once again in his hand.  He crushed the grapes into the cup and handed it to his master.  Jacob said to him,  “The three branches are three days.  You will be taken from here and back into the service of Pharaoh.  Remember me when this comes true.

                The second prisoner was the ex-baker of Pharaoh and he told his perplexing dream, “I had three baskets on my head with all kinds of fresh baked goods for Pharaoh, but birds were attacking the food.”  Joseph said, “The three baskets are three days.   That is when you will be taken from this prison and hanged.  The birds will pick at your flesh.  You can imagine how they reacted.  The baker desperately wanted Joseph to be wrong and the cupbearer wanted Joseph to be right with all his heart.  Three days later, Joseph’s interpretations from the Lord happened.  The cupbearer was lifted up to his former position.  The baker was lifted up onto a noose.  But the cupbearer said nothing about Joseph.

                People are still drawn to dreams today.  What do they mean?  Can they predict the future?  Are they God trying to tell us something?  Or are they just mental debris exiting our consciousness?

                God does use dreams, more in the Old Testament than in the new.  88 times in the old dreams are mentioned; 8 in the new.  Already in Genesis we have heard about an Egyptian named Abimelech being warned that Abraham’s sister is his really his wife.  Joseph’s father, Jacob, had a dream about angel’s ascending and descending on a ladder.  Laban, Jacob’s father-in-law was warned in a dream not to speak to him.  Coincidentally, another Joseph had dreams from God in Matthew.  Jesus’ father was told about Mary’s pregnancy and warned after the birth to go to Egypt.  That is the last example of dreams in the bible.

                Dreams were a necessary way for the creator to speak to his chosen people.  He warned them, directed them, and made covenants with them through these dreams.  But then the prophets wrote down all of God’s interactions his chosen people.  We call that the Old Testament.  Now God’s people had volumes of stories to read and hear.  These stories described God’s heart, how he wanted to restore the world.  These texts also described how a human being should live.  The basics were all there for a life dedicated to God and one another.  It wasn’t as personalized as a dream but it was much more comprehensive. 

                Then the heavenly Father sent his son, Jesus.  He was God in the flesh.  He was a dream made real.  We hoped that one day we would die and see God.  Citizens of earth got to see God before they died.  They asked him questions, hugged him, and were healed by him.  It was like a dream because these things aren’t supposed to happen in real life.  But they did.  His friends wrote down his words and actions.  They witnessed him die on a cross and rise from the dead.  They had to pinch themselves to see if this was reality.  They talked to each other to confirm this is not a mass hallucination.  Jesus really did live and die and rise from the dead.  No dream.

                So now you and I don’t need dreams to hear God.  We have the Bible.  It is even more comprehensive than just the Old Testament.  Everything a person needs to know God is in here.  Everything we need to live a good life is in here.  We should share our interpretation of the bible the same way Joseph did.

                There is good news in here and bad news.  We are called to proclaim both.  There are people who are headed for restoration and there are people who are going to experience judgment.  We are not rooting for judgment.  We wanted everyone to be saved.  We want everyone to serve the king.  But we have to speak the truth in love.  If we only speak good news then we are no better than flatterers.  Flatterers only say what people want to hear.  They only bring good news.  This is because they know that sometimes the bearer of bad news is hated.  A flatterer tells the truth but they are half-truths.  Flatterers love being the messenger of good news.  But they might not be around when things go south.

                The opposite of a flatterer is an offender.  Offenders revel in sharing bad news.  They love the power that comes with telling blunt truth.  They will complain about just about anything.  They see the sin in the world clearly but little else.  Offenders might say that they are just being the devil’s advocate but they love their role.  They want judgement for the world and they are the one to bring it.  So they tell half-truths.  They share bad news but none of the good.  We are not to be offenders.

                You and I are called to bring the truth of scripture to people but with love.  A loving person is thrilled to bring good news but is willing to share bad news because people have a right to know.  At Glendale Lutheran we love the Gospel.  Jesus loves us and all creation and wants a relationship.  Tell everyone you know.  But also be willing to tell people who are headed towards death and destruction that they need to turn around.  Jesus was perfect at this.  He told us that without him we are lost and headed towards a dark place.  Bad news.  But then he also told us that he is the light of the world.  Good News.

                Joseph was neither a flatterer nor an offender, maybe that is why he was so respected.  At least two years after the incident with the cupbearer and the baker, Pharaoh has a crazy dream.  The cupbearer, who should have spoken up for Joseph finally does so.  He tells Pharaoh about his ability to interpret dreams.  Pharaoh calls for Joseph to be cleaned up and brought before him.  Joseph stands there and hears this dream.  Pharaoh saw 7 fat cows come out of the Nile river.  Then 7 skinny cows emerge right behind them.  The 7 emaciated cows eat the 7 plump cows like boa constrictors.  That was the first part of the dream.  Then in the second part, 7 ears of fat beautiful wheat sprung up into one big stalk.  After this 7 ears of dry dead wheat sprung up into one big stalk.  The dead stalk ate the beautiful stalk.  Pharaoh asked the magicians to interpret but they failed.

                By the way, I imagine that the magicians were flatterers.  Always trying to guess what Pharaoh wanted to hear.  Maybe they said that there were 7 years of plenty.  But they never told bad news.  Joseph told it like it is with love.  The next 7 years would be fruitful for crops along the Nile.  That would be followed by 7 years of failed crops and famine.  Pharaoh needs to store up 20% of the countries crops during the next 7 years so that it can survive over the next 14 years.

                Pharaoh is so impressed that he appoints Joseph to oversee this initiative.  Every city was required to store up grain.  There was so much gathered that it could not be measured.  Joseph married during this time.  He had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.  Manasseh means God made me forget my misery.  Ephraim means God made me fruitful.  One focuses on the bad news and one the good news.

                When famine struck all of Egypt went to pharaoh for food.  People sold their land, then their animals, then themselves to fill their belly.  Pharaoh became the most powerful man on earth.  All because Joseph cared enough to tell him the whole truth.  May that be said of us as well.  They cared enough to tell the whole truth of God.

Genesis 39: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

Pastor Scott Jonas

Genesis 39

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

7/8/18

            The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob spends the last 13 chapters of Genesis on their descendent Joseph.  Pastor Hempel, wonderfully preached on the beginning of Joseph’s life.  He was the favorite of his father Jacob.  Maybe it’s because dad had a conversion experience later in life.  Jacob wrestled with God and was allowed to live.  This produced a new found faith that he passed on to his family.  But the older sons were brought up under deceitful Jacob.  Joseph was raised by faithful dad whose name was changed to Israel.  He must have trained Joseph in the ways of the Lord.  God is Holy so therefore we should be holy.  This forged a bond that was represented by a gift, a beautiful coat.  This created an intimacy between Israel and Joseph but also a jealousy among the brothers.  They ruthlessly threw Joseph down a well and then sold him to slave traders bound for Egypt.  We are in Genesis 39.

            God orchestrated it so that joseph was sold to Pharoah’s Captain of the guard, Potiphar.  This man was so powerful that he oversaw Pharoah’s body guards and executions.  That is a sensitive position.  Imagine, Joseph has been through more trauma in a few weeks than most of us suffer in a lifetime.  He was betrayed by his brothers.  They treated him like he was worthless.  He survived a near death experience.  He went from being under the roof of a loving father to the personal property of a stranger.  He woke up in a foreign country with a different language, customs and laws.  But the story says these five magic words, “The Lord was with Joseph.”  What is the evidence that the Lord was with Joseph?  This slave who doesn’t know anything about Egypt was successful in all he did.  Everything he touch in the service of his master went right.  So Potiphar gave him more and more responsibility and each time Joseph hit it out of the park.  Soon, this immigrant ran everything in the house.  The only thing Potiphar had to decide is what to eat for dinner.  That is a miracle.   This is Egypt.  Potiphar doesn’t believe in the God of the Hebrews but Joseph is so amazing that the only explanation is that he is touched by a heavenly being.  His master saw that the Lord was with Him.

There are only four men in the Bible who are described as handsome.  Joseph, Saul, David and David’s son Absalom.  So you know that the dude was looking good.  Square Jaw and all.  We know that sometimes beauty makes you a target.  We have all seen it.  And when you are attractive temptation comes knocking at your door earlier and more frequent.  He was taught to be holy as the Lord was Holy.  This would be put to the test.

Potiphar’s wife lives in a culture of sexual excess.  Certainly her husband was allowed to explore any amorous opportunity he desired.  The sexual habits of the ancient Egyptians would make even modern Americans blush.  So we have Egypt’s anything goes culture and Joseph’s dedication to the Lord heading for a head on collision.  Remember, Joseph doesn’t have the ten commandments, Jesus’ teaching or Paul’s commentary.  All he has is his conscience and his faith.

The wife, gets Joseph alone and says, “Lie with me.”  Could anyone blame him if he gave in.  He has been through so much.  And now he has been put in the position of going from a slave to a sex slave.  What choice does he have?  Evidently, even a slave has a choice when it comes to temptation.

It is fascinating to read this story in the light of what’s going on in our culture over the last year.  The #metoo movement has highlighted the abuses that occur when someone uses their position to sexually abuse an underling.  Usually it is a powerful man who puts a unassuming woman in an unwinnable predicament.  That has always been the case though out history.  But here, God uses the opposite situation.  A woman uses her authority to sexually abuse a man who has no power, except the power to say “no.”  Joseph says “no.”  It is important to say that obviously many who are victims of assault have no choice.  A predator can take away your choice.

Potiphar’s wife cannot physically take away Joseph’s choice.  His two reasons for resisting are good for us to consider when we experience sexual temptation.  His first thought is to his master, Potiphar.  This would be a betrayal.  Joseph is sensitive to betrayal.  Maybe when he was looking up at the top of well he said to himself, “I would never betray someone the way my brothers have.”  Now he has been given that temptation.  Potiphar is his owner but he has been a fair one who rewards righteousness.  Joseph doesn’t want to ruin that relationship.

Our society says “Anything goes sexually.”  You do you.  There are no wrong decisions in the physical intimacy realm.  But we know that is not true.  Sexual decisions affect those we love and respect.  We’ve seen bad decisions ruin marriages and families.  We’ve felt the ripple effect in our own lives.  When you have that next temptation, ask yourself, “Is this a betrayal of those I love and respect?”  John says in 1 John 4:20 “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”  The same goes here.  How can you say, you are faithful to God if you are unfaithful to your wife, your husband, your children, your parents, your church.

That brings us to Joseph’s second reason for denying Potiphar’s wife.  He says, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”  He doesn’t have the law but the Lord is with him.  I think it’s safe to say that the spirit of the Lord is with him and the spirit convicts the conscience concerning sin.  He knows this is wrong because the Lord is with him.  This is true for us.  The closer you are to the Lord by being in his word, worshipping him and prayer, the more sensitive and calibrated your conscience will be.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that giving in to sexual temptation is not an avert act against God, instead it is “forgetting God.”

Later, the wife waits until everyone is gone from the house and she pounces again.  She grabs him.  He does what all of us should do when faced with sexual temptation, run.  Get out of there.  If you find yourself alone with someone and you feel feelings that you shouldn’t feel., remove yourself.  It may be embarrassing but the alternative is so much worse.  He runs, she is still holding his outer garment.  She goes to her husband and lays out a false accusation.  He attacked me and when I refused he threw down  his garment and took off.  She is shameless.  She is so far from the holiness of God that she commits a double violation, sexual assault and lying about rape.  You and I would be capable of that if it weren’t for the Lord.  Potiphar sides with his wife though it is obvious that he doesn’t believe her.  If he really thought that this slave attempted to rape his wife then Joseph would be executed.  This is a hard man who daily oversees other hard men.  He probably knows what his wife is capable of so he throws Joseph in Jail instead.

            When it comes to sexual temptation God gives us two outs: one before sin and one after sin.  The Lord is with you and me.  If we ask God for an out in the moment he will provide it.  Many times he calls us to flee from that temptation.  That is before temptation.  If we do give in, he is faithful and just and will give us an out after.  It is called forgiveness.  If you have fallen sexually there is restoration that the Lord of Joseph wants to give you.  He already forgave you earlier in the service.  But he wants you to taste his forgiveness through the Lord’s supper.  He knows that you are sorry and he doesn’t want you to feel guilty anymore.  The Lord is with you.

By Grace through Faith.