Knowing who we are

We stopped on Monday with the words of I Corinthians 10:13 in our minds; while we all face temptation, God has promised to be with us. Paul says that He will provide a way of escape, if we are willing to take it.
Let's go back to our story....
If we were a member of the Pharaoh's court, we probably would have been acquainted with Potiphar, and we would have seen that lately he'd had a new friend by his side. As the captain of Pharaoh's bodyguards, Potiphar was an honored and respected fellow -- responsible for the safety of the Pharaoh. We would have noticed that everywhere Potiphar went, a handsome young man was at his side: fairly tall, athletic build, but obviously not an Egyptian. This person was not yet twenty, but walked with self confidence and poise. Wherever Potiphar goes, this young man goes.
Father and son?
Nope.
This is Potiphar's new slave, a Hebrew named Joseph. But there seems to be something more here - a friendship that erases the slave/master relationship between them. Potiphar likes Joseph, and Joseph appears to respect his master.
Here is how Moses tells us about it:

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 favor in his eyes and became his attendant.  (Genesis 39:2-4a)

Potiphar was a shrewd judge of men. He knew that the Lord's hand was upon this young person that he had purchased as a slave. So, he put Joseph in charge of things. He was a wealthy man, and had a large estate -- and he entrusted it all to Joseph:

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. (Genesis 39:4b-6a)

Potiphar saw that the Lord blessed Joseph, so he put him in a place of responsibility. He wanted some of those blessings on his household and his estate!  (If we counted, there are five times in just four verses that Moses mentions how God was blessing Joseph.)
What's our take-away here? Well, first of all, Potiphar was no dummy. And the lost people we may come in contact are not dummies, either. They are lost in sin, just as we were, but they can still see the hand of God working and blessing a believer's life. Sometimes we act like lost people are truly stupid, and they are not. They truly may be bewildered by our doctrine, and they don't know what we mean by certain "churchy" terms we throw around, but they have eyes. They can see the Lord's work.
Secondly, they can spot a phony several miles away. Potiphar understood that Joseph was different, and he respected him for it. So, he trusted him; in fact, as his estate prospered under Joseph's care, he trusted him more and more.
The next thing we will notice in Joseph's story is something that happens in our own lives, too. We are more likely to be tempted when things are going well. After all, when we are enjoying God's blessings, we often become a little casual, a little bit complacent. We begin to take those lovely blessings for granted.
Oh boy.
Satan loves that! That's exactly when he likes to "hit." When everything is going our way, and we feel like all is well, watch out! Be careful! We must keep our eyes open!

Just then, when Joseph appears to be sitting on top of the world, Potiphar's wife enters the story. As we noted when we studied this "bad girl" of the Bible, we don't even know her name. But we know what she wanted.....check out verse seven:

...and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” (Genesis 39:7)

Just before verse seven, the tail end of verse six reminds us that Joseph was a handsome guy.  In today's parlance, Potiphar's wife was a "cougar," and she had selected her prey! In the Hebrew we see a wonderful way of expressing things: it says she "lifted up her eyes." Hmmmmm, so she was not only watching him, but making eyes at him! I expect that as she watched, she liked what she saw....he was a strong, confident young man, and perhaps reminded her of how young and strong Potiphar had been when they first met and married. I'm sure that he was required to partake of many rich meals at the Pharaoh's table, so he probably had gained at least a little weight? (Grin)  And maybe those meals had continued late into the night, so she was left alone? The idea of a casual affair appealed to her....
She must have been pretty persistent.....the Bible says that when Joseph said no, she came back again (and again). Maybe she thought she could wear down his resolve. Wonder how he was able to say no?
We see first that he was loyal to his boss.

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.  (Genesis 39:8-9a)

Then we see that he was loyal to his God:

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 be with her. (Genesis 39:9b-10)

Joseph did the right thing because he knew adultery was wrong. He called a spade a spade, my grandma would say. He called it "wicked" and "a sin against God." These days we tend to rename things to make them sound better. We may say things like "affair" or "fling" or even "making love." We need to be more like Joseph and "tell it like it is." (Grin) We need to be courageous like he was, and not change our convictions about what is right, and what is wrong. Renaming something doesn't change it from wrong to right....
Ahh, Potiphar's wife couldn't stand it. Despite his refusals, she continued to try. And then, finally, she made her move:

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” (Genesis 39:11-12a)

It's the moment of truth.
Joseph knew that he belonged to God. He was sure of his identity. He knew who he was.
When you know that, it makes the decisions of life easier. Just sayin.
If you belong to God, you can't sleep with your boss's wife. Simple, straightforward. No matter how cute or lonely or anything else she may be.
Joseph didn't mess around.
He didn't flirt with sin.
He just told her no!
He didn't apologize and he didn't worry about hurting her feelings, either.
It's a bit of a cliffhanger, no?
Join us tomorrow!