Dr. Ron Sumners
October 11, 2009
The account of Joseph and the lustful advances of Potiphar’s wife sound as though it was taken from yesterday’s newspaper or last night’s prime-time television program. It has an immediate and striking relevance because it deals with issues that confront us all.
But there is a striking difference between this story and the sorry sagas of many modern-day celebrities and leaders, namely the way it ends. Joseph dealt with the advances of Mrs. Potiphar the same way he dealt with the temptation to bitterness or self-pity. He faced it head-on and emerged victorious in the power of God.
Temptation is the enticement to evil or to sin. It is something that we all face; even the Lord Jesus Himself did (Matthew 4:1-11). Therefore, it is not a sin to be tempted. It is our response to temptation that leads us down the path of righteousness or to the dead end of disobedience.
Joseph was placed in the house of Potiphar by the hand of God. God knew that this temptation lay in Joseph’s path. And although God did not cause it, this incident became part of God’s sovereign plan to bring about good in Joseph’s life and the lives of his family. A number of factors stand out as we review the persistent temptation Joseph endured.
“Joseph was well-built and handsome” (Genesis 39:6). So, he was vulnerable to the perils that come to the beautiful people of the world.
Joseph was always someone’s favorite. He was Jacob’s favorite back at home, and he was Potiphar’s favorite. And, because he was, as girls would call him today, “A hunk,” he became the favorite of Potiphar’s wife.
Physical attractiveness, beauty of face and physique, is something a lot of us would like to experience. I used to wish that I were tall, dark and handsome. After 60 years I have accepted the fact that short, pale and dumpy is as good as it is going to get!
Our culture suggests that physical beauty is the goal for everyone. Human history and the biblical record warn us that doors swing open for attractive people, but they can also swing shut and trap them in peril.
Do you remember the story of Joseph’s own great-grandfather, Abraham? He had a beautiful wife named Sarah. As the two were about to enter Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan, Abraham said to Sarah, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared” (Genesis 12:11-13). Abraham’s lie was indefensible, but his fear that the Egyptians would admire Sarah illustrates the peculiar peril of beauty.
Joseph faced the same peril. This story would not be in the Bible if Joseph had not been so handsome.
What were the particulars of this strong temptation? In answering, we get to the heart of the matter. All of us are tempted whether or not we possess beauty. There were at least five elements in the approach Potiphar’s wife made toward Joseph.
Her approach was initially subtle. In Genesis 39:7 the Bible says, “After a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph.” She cast her eyes upon him. That is, there came a time when she began to take notice of him. She looked at him, and then looked back a second time in a way that was not the look of a married woman who wanted to live in purity.
The eyes are the gateway to the soul, the path through which many loves come. The subtly of Potiphar’s wife was that she began by eyeing Joseph in a lustful way.
Her approach was striking. Once Potiphar’s wife had allowed her eyes to ensnare her heart, she lost any semblance of modesty. “Come to bed with me!” she tempted Joseph (v. 7).
How could this woman proceed to such a boldfaced invitation to adultery? The answer is that Potiphar’s wife was feeding desire at the level of her imagination. When we do that, we embrace the possibility that we may suddenly do what we have been thinking about.
For example, the advertisement for a certain kind of automobile comes across with such an appeal that you imagine yourself behind the wheel. And before you know it you are behind the wheel – and behind in the payments!
Where did it start? It started in your imagination. That’s where things began with the wife of Joseph’s master. She fed her lust, and it was ready to break forth in an instant.
Her approach was sustained. Joseph refused the advances of Potiphar’s wife (vv. 8-9), but that only served to make him more desirable to her. She kept after him day after day (v. 10), making every opportunity to be in his company.
She made sure that Joseph met her when he rounded a corner. She didn’t make one proposition and quit. It was constant. Her proposition was clear, but Joseph was equally clear in his answer. However, this woman was neither corrected by time or his repeated refusals.
This tells us something about the danger of allowing yourself to be held in the grip of vain and lustful imagination. It is the trap into which people fall, for example, when they become hooked on pornography.
In their minds, every occasion becomes an occasion for the fulfillment of that lust, and time won’t cure the problem. Neither will the refusal of others to become involved. The person becomes enslaved to lust, as Potiphar’s wife clearly was.
Her approach was strategic. When her lustful desire finally got the better of her, Mrs. Potiphar made her move. “One day Joseph went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants were inside” (.v 11).
It was the perfect opportunity. Did the woman set it up? Did she order the other servants out of the house? There is no way to say. Even if the opportunity had just come her way, she took full advantage of it. She figured that as long as no one saw her, it was OK.
Isn’t it interesting that when we sin, we think as long as no one sees us, we’re OK? But God sees us! And God was Joseph’s main concern. “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (v.9). If Joseph’s only concern was that no one would find out, this woman’s strategic approach at a time when they were alone would have snared him.
When she saw that Joseph wouldn’t yield, Potiphar’s wife grabbed him. She pressed her body against him in a seductive way. She could not imagine that he could resist her. But he did!
Let’s look at some things about Joseph’s resistance to this temptation.
His resistance was decisive. Joseph didn’t argue with his temptress. He gave her a decisive refusal. We must be just as decisive if we hope to deal with temptation successfully.
I believe that Joseph had already settled the issue in his mind before the day of crisis came. Like Daniel, he made up his mind ahead of time so he would not sin against God!
When it comes to temptation, we sow the seeds of our destruction when we allow our minds to be uncontrolled. By guarding our minds, we cultivate the ability to say, no.
You cannot make a decision like Joseph’s in the heat of the moment. The only way to deal with it is to plan your answer long before the answer is needed. Joseph did this.
His resistance was principled. He told Potiphar’s wife, “With me in charge . . . my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, everything he owns he has entrusted to me. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife” (vv. 8-9). A lesser individual might have used the circumstances as an occasion for sin.
Circumstances are neutral. Ultimately it is our response to them that makes the difference. Joseph responded on the basis of principle. “This is not right,” he said. “I will not sin against God!”
There is no more powerful force in overcoming temptation than the fear of God. Proverbs 9:10 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. This is not the fear of the pagan. This is not the fear of what God might do to me. It is the fear of what I, through my actions, may do to Him. Joseph feared God.
We are breeding a generation, even in the church, which gives little notion to fearing God. We don’t like to think of God that way anymore. That is a negative image of God. We want to make God more attractive and upbeat.
Fine, let’s go ahead and be attractive and upbeat. And meanwhile immorality is rampant inside and outside the church because we are letting go of the foundational principle that stands against immorality, which is the fear of God.
Joseph did not address the issue of his desires. The woman was no doubt beautiful. It is not as though she was repulsive and he didn’t feel any attraction for her. That was not the issue.
Neither was the issue that committing adultery would hurt them, or the fact that the news might get out, or any other pragmatic consideration. The issue was that adultery with her would have been an act of wickedness against God.
No matter what contemporary culture says sexual sin is not just between two consenting adults. It is an act of disobedience against God.
His resistance was unyielding. It had to be, because she spoke to him day after day.
It is one thing to resist temptation once. It is something else to resist the same temptation day after day! Some of us manage to muster enough strength to resist the first temptation, and we’re so proud of ourselves for not having yielded that we go right ahead and yield the next time.
Joseph knew that it was wrong to give in to Potiphar’s wife. He didn’t play mind games like people who say, “You know, pastor, I really believe that if God did not want me to enter into this relationship, He would remove the temptation. He would take away the feelings. He would make it clear to me.”
He has already given you a book on the subject! He is not going to remove the temptation. You are to remove yourself from the temptation.
We can’t fool with God’s requirements. We can’t allow our desires to overturn reason. We have to recognize that the battle is within us, not just outside us.
We may think we merely respond to the outward temptations that are presented to us. But the truth is that the evil desires in our hearts are constantly searching out temptations to satisfy our lusts. As long as we live in this body, we will wage war against the flesh!
Every day we live, we have this choice. Every day we move, either in the realm of obedience or in the realm of disobedience. There is a propensity within us, even as Christians, to seek out that which is most attractive to us.
The attractions of the world, represented by Potiphar’s wife, were brought to Joseph by the Evil One. Would Joseph sow to his flesh and reap destruction, or would he sow to the Spirit and reap eternal life? God empowered Joseph to make the right choice; He will do the same for you.
His resistance was physical. He avoided her physical presence. He wasn’t going to risk the possibility of changing his mind. He didn’t assume that because he was able to resist her on Friday that he would automatically be successful on Saturday. He wasn’t foolish enough to say, “I’ve got this thing under control. It won’t bother me.”
A Chinese proverb says, “He who would not enter the room of sin must not sit at the door of temptation.” Joseph avoided Mrs. Potiphar as much as possible.
His resistance was ruthless. Genesis 39:12 tells us that when Potiphar’s wife grabbed his cloak, he left it in her hand and ran out of the house. It was better to lose his cloak than his character. It can take a lifetime to build a reputation and only five minutes to destroy it when we don’t resist sin!
That is why Paul told Timothy, “Flee the evil desires of youth” (2 Timothy 2:22). That is why he told the Corinthians, “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Don’t hang around and play with sexual temptation!
Why? Because, as the writer of Proverbs told his son, “At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, ‘How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly’” (Proverbs 5:11-14).
James provides us with powerful principles for applying the truths we have learned here from the life of Joseph. James 1:13-15 is a classic passage on temptation in which the apostle writes, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me’”(v.13).
Here is the first principle. God is never the source of temptation! We lay the problem at His feet if we fail.
After Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife, she tried to lay the blame for her lust at Joseph’s feet, and then at the feet of her husband. She told her other servants Joseph had tried to rape her, and then she insinuated to Potiphar that it was his fault for bringing Joseph into their home.
Neither of those accusations was true, but when people are under the gun and on the spot, they will reach for anything to justify themselves. They’ll blame others, and they may even blame God.
But James says, “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone” (James 1:13). God tests us, but the difference between God’s testing and the devil’s temptations is this: God sets up His tests for His children to pass. The temptations of the devil are set up so that we will fail. God is never the author of temptation, so we’ll have to place the blame elsewhere.
The second principle is that temptation begins with our individual desire. James 1:14-15 tells us, “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
The third principle is that when temptation comes, there is always a way out. Be honest. Did you ever give in to temptation because there was no way of escape? You never did, and neither did I! God always has a way out. The problem comes when we close our eyes to the escape route because we have allowed our desires to overwhelm our reason.
If talking about temptation is a painful experience for you because of mistakes and failures in your past, let me leave you with a word of hope.
With God’s help we can chart a new course and set our sails in the direction of obedience to God. The Lord says, “I will forgive your wickedness and will remember your sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
God’s word to you is the same word Jesus gave to the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). After all her pharisaic accusers had slunk away one at a time, Jesus asked her, “Has no one condemned you?” When the woman answered, “No one, sir,” Jesus said to her, “then neither do I condemn you. Go now and sin no more.”
No matter what has happened, you can leave your life of sin by the enabling of the Spirit of God through the Word of God. His power to overcome temptation is available to us all.
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