Gen 39
Joseph in Egypt
(pt 1)
I.
Review
A. The
story of Joseph began in chapter 37.
When we left Joseph he was 17 years old and the favorite son of his
father.
1. He
had been given a coat that reflected that favoritism.
2. He
had also taken a bad report on some of his brothers to his father. His brothers
could not even speak to him. They hated
him.
3. He
had a couple of dreams which said that the brothers and his parents would bow
down to him.
4. After
a while the brothers took the flock to Shechem and then to Dothan
to graze. Jacob sent Joseph to bring
word back on them. When the brothers saw
Joseph they decided to do away with him – and his dreams. They throw him into a
cistern and later sold him to some Ishmaelites traveling from Gilead .
5. Jacob
is led to believe Joseph is dead and is grieving.
6. But,
the last verse of the chapter begins, “Meanwhile…” While all seems lost God is
at work to keep the dreamer and the dream alive.
B. Then
chapter 38 – the story of Judah and Tamar interrupts the story of Joseph. It not only builds suspense in that story but
it takes us to the real overarching story of Scripture – the story of the
seed. We will not know the outcome of
that story until Christ appears, but a part of it shows up here.
II.
Chapter 39 – Joseph in Potiphar’s household in Egypt
A. 39:1
– KJV – “And”. The ESV, NASB, NIV –
“Now”. These translations are probably
closer to what is meant. Moses is
returning to the suspended story of Joseph which his readers have been waiting
for. “Now” and he gives a brief review to
bring us back up to speed.
2. 39:1
– he is sold “from the hand” of the Ishmaelites. (KJV).
On the face of it, the Ishmaelites possessed or owned Joseph.
a) At
this point if you were Joseph what would you be thinking?
1) hated
and sold by my brothers
2) taken
away from home and my parents
3) under
the control of foreigners
4) only
17 years old
5) Maybe
despair or hopelessness? Joseph will
later describe this time as a time of trouble that did not escape his mind until
the Lord changed his status. (Gen 41:51)
3. In
spite of the troubles and hard time Joseph found himself in the theme of the
chapter emerges in 29:2, 21, and 23.
“The LORD was with Joseph.”
a) And
once inside of Potiphar’s house he was given charge over all of Potiphar’s
affairs (except his food - See Endnote[ii])
– Gen 43:32 – Egyptians and “Hebrews” did not eat together – that was a
detestable thing.)
b) And
everything he did was successful because the LORD gave him success – vs. 3
c) And
the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph – vs. 5
d) And
the LORD’s blessing was on everything Potiphar had – vs. 5
4. Think
about that for a moment – The LORD is blessing Egyptians.
a) Gen
9:19, 10:6 – Ham, the son of Noah who saw his father’s nakedness, had 4
sons. One of them is Mizraim. Most of
our Bibles will have a textual note that says “Mizraim is Egypt ”. Mizraim is the transliteration for “Egypt ”. It is the term used in our text –Gen 39 for Egypt .
b) In
other places we are told that Egypt
is the land of Ham
c) Gen
39 – God is blessing Mizraim, a descendants of Ham.
d) For
Israel in
Moses’ day, Egypt
was the kingdom that forced them into slave labor and killed their
children. This would have been a hard
story to hear for those Israelites who left with Moses.
e) Israel
descended from Shem. Shem’s line was the
elect line.
5. There
is nothing in our Gen 39 text that leads us to believe that Potiphar believed
in God. He sees that “the LORD was with
Joseph” but that is not the same as believing in the LORD. The LORD is with
Joseph. It does not say this of
Potiphar. He blesses Potiphar’s
household. But he also blesses
everything he has in the field.
6. So
the question is why does the LORD bless Potiphar’s household?
B. Israel
a blessing to the nations
1. The
answer is found in Gen 12:1-3 where God tells Abram to leave his father’s house
and go to the land that he will show him.
And if he does then the LORD will make his name great, give him land…and
he will make him a blessing. All nations
on earth will be blessed through Abram.
2. Joseph,
this descendant of Abraham, this boy with the dream is God’s instrument of
blessing to these descendants of Ham – the Egyptians.
3. It
is part of God’s promise. All nations
will be blessed. It is God’s plan that Israel
would be the instrument through which God would bless the nations.
C. To
be a blessing
1. The
blessing Joseph brought to Potiphar’s house: success in all that he did.
2. He
also demonstrated the blessing of God in his life through the power or charge
he had over Potiphar’s house. (KJV – the
things that were in “his hands”)
3. The
prosperity gospel crowd presses this.
God’s blessing to us is seen in what he gives us – wealth and the power
we acquire. But that is not the
dream.
a) If
God grants us wealth (or poverty) or power (or weakness) it is for us to carry
the dream to the world. (Phil 4:12f)
4. Eph
1:3 – he has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
5. We
have his blessing through Christ. And
the dream he has given us to take to the world is found in the Great Commission
where he sends us out to our neighbors and the nations – to continue what he
started in the OT with Abraham. We
should be going, teaching and baptizing in order to make disciples of
Christ. Our dream is not wealth or
power, but to see the blood of Christ applied to the lives of those who do not
know him.
6. And
when this is our dream we have the very thing that Joseph did in Gen 39 – God
promises us (Mt 28:20) – “I will be with you.”
7. And
the surprising thing may be the ones who respond to the gospel. It may be the Hamites – those we least
expect. It may be those we don’t like. God’s plan is that “All nations be blessed”
and that we be used as instruments of his to bring that blessing which is
Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
[i] The
Ishmaelites were coming from Gilead . Gilead is just East of
the Jordan . They would have probably crossed the Jordan
near Bethshan and walked up the Jezreel
Valley Dothan
pass where the boys were. The
Ishmaelites were carrying items that they would trade with the Egyptians. The Ishmaelites were descendants of Abraham’s
son through Hagar. Ishmael settled east
of the Jordan
(Gen 16:12 ) and lived in the
Wilderness of Paran (ROR 17B) and had an Egyptian wife (Gen 21:21 ).
The Midianites were descendants of Abraham and Keturah (Gen
25:1-4). Abraham sent his sons from
Keturah east, also (Gen 25:6). Moses’ father in law, Jethro, was a priest of Midian
(Ex 3:1). He took his father in law’s
sheep in the desert to Horeb. In short,
the Midianites and Ishmaelites lived in the same general area. They intermarried and were known by either
designation. Judges 8:22 -24 “You have saved us from the hand of Midian…your
share of the plunder…the Ishmaelites wore gold earrings.” So when Gen 37 says the Midianites sold
Joseph and Gen 39 says it was Ishmaelites there is no issue there.
[ii] There
are some commentators that think “food” is a euphemism for sexual relations –
meaning Joseph had free reign in the house except for having a sexual relation
with Potiphar’s wife. This prohibition
may have been the driving force for her desire to have Joseph. It is prohibited so it must be had. I don’
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