GENESIS 39
3 Outlines
Genesis 39
BECAUSE GOD IS WITH YOU
If you are a born again Christian, you
should have a recurring realization of the presence of God.
The moment you turned from your sins and
trusted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, the one who died for your sins, the
presence of God became a great reality. Romans 8:15-17, 8:9, Hebrews 13:5-6,
Matthew 8:20
So, if you are a born again Christian, God
is with you.
But do you understand that means you have
some responsibilities because God is with you?
One of the biggest responsibilities that
you have is to live a changed life in His power. 2 Corinthians 5:177, 1 Peter
1:15-16
Joseph was the next to youngest of Jacob’s
twelve sons. He had made a godly stand
against his older brothers. His older
brothers were jealous of him and unknown to His father, had him sold into
slavery in
Eventually Joseph would rise to power in
As we meet Joseph in Genesis 39 his
circumstances are not good at all.
Vs. 1 – Upon coming to
Genesis 39:2 - And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was
in the house of his master the Egyptian.
The Lord was with Joseph, but Joseph did
not use this fact as an excuse for not doing his best. Because the Lord was with Joseph, he
demonstrated certain qualities that should be true of us, if the Lord is with
us.
In this chapter there are three ways
Joseph behaved because the Lord was with Him.
We should behave in the same three ways because the Lord is with
us.
BE CONSCIENTIOUS BECAUSE GOD IS WITH YOU
– Vss. 1-6
Joseph had been mistreated by His brothers
and sold into slavery (Genesis 37). He could have had a bad attitude because of
the mistreatment.
Instead he evidently did his best and God
prospered Him.
Vs. 3 – Notice that Joseph was
active.
He would have done his work well.
He was probably what some would call an
overachiever.
God is not impressed with laziness.
God blesses those who are willing to work.
Proverbs 13:4
God blessed Joseph and what he did God
prospered.
And please note that it was obvious to
Potiphar that God was with Joseph. He
could see the success that God was giving Joseph.
Vs. 4 – Joseph was put in charge
of everything that Potiphar had in the house and in the fields. Later, Joseph would be in charge of the whole
God blessed Joseph, but there is no doubt
that Joseph was conscientious about what he was doing.
Vs. 5 – God blessed Potiphar for
Joseph’s sake.
Vs. 6 – Joseph was so
conscientious that Potiphar only concerned himself with one thing at home,
“What’s for supper!?”
Joseph was so conscientious that he was
trustworthy.
Doing our best, being conscientious, is a
requirement for all Christians.
Colossians 3:17
- And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by
him.
If God is truly with us, it means that we
have named Jesus as our Savior, our hope for Heaven.
If we have claimed Jesus as Savior, He is
also to be the Lord of our lives.
If He is the boss, the Lord of our lives, whatever
we do in word or deed should be done in His name, and be thankful to God
because of Him and through Him.
Very simply, if we can do something in the
name of Jesus, we should be doing it. If
we can not do something in the name of Jesus we should not be doing it. Let us ask ourselves conscientiously, “Can I
honestly do what I want to do in the name of the Lord Jesus?”
Colossians 3:23
- And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily,
as to the Lord, and not unto men;
This verse was spoken to slaves. There were millions of them in the
Although we are not slaves today, I
believe that this verse applies to all of us who are employees or even
students.
Whatever we do is to be done heartily,
with enthusiasm.
That’s hard to do sometimes if we don’t
like the employer or the teacher.
It’s easier to do when we are
conscientious enough to do everything for the Lord first, and then for the boss
or teacher.
BE COURAGEOUS BECAUSE GOD IS WITH YOU –
Vss. 7-20
Joseph was doing a great job, but
temptation came his way through the advances of his boss's wife.
Vss. 7-9
– Although Joseph was in charge of his master’s house, he was still a slave.
It would have been easy for him to have
given in to the sexual advances of his master’s wife. Out of expediency, pride and pleasure it
would have been quite simple to give into the master’s wife. He could have even rationalize it.
Joseph had the courage, the guts to say
“no” to something that was wrong.
Joseph refused because his master trusted
Him as Vs. 8 says.
In Vs. 9 Joseph states that the only thing
that was “off limits” to him in the house was his master’s wife.
And Joseph was bold to call adultery what
it is, wickedness and sin!
And Joseph was bold enough to state that
the wickedness and sin was against God!
Do you know why we often fall into
sin? It is because we often give it
another label, like a “mistake” or “indiscretion”
We fall to identify it as wickedness and
sin against God!
Vs. 10 – Joseph had to say “no” more
than once. This woman was persistent.
And some of the temptations we face will be equally persistent.
Vss. 11-12
– The woman was even bolder than before when nobody was around. She grabbed him and he fled as quickly as
possible, leaving the coat in her hand.
It takes courage to call sin what it is,
sin against God!
It takes courage to consistently say “no”
to what we know is wrong.
And it takes courage to run when the only
way we can resist is by running.
When God is with us, we need to learn to run
from temptation and not towards it. God
provides the way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13,
I’d like to tell you that everything will
turn out well when we say “no” to sin.
Sometimes we will be falsely accused if we
don’t do what others are enticed to do.
Joseph was falsely accused as Verses 13-19
tell us.
The wife of Potiphar falsely accused
Joseph.
Vs. 20 – Joseph ended up a
prisoner because of saying “no” to sin.
So what about you? Would you rather be falsely accused when
saying “no” to sin, or would you rather answer to God at the judgment for not
doing what was right?
BE CONSISTENT BECAUSE GOD IS WITH YOU -
Vss. 21-23
There is many a person who has stopped
doing what is right because it got them in trouble.
It would have been easy for Joseph to just
give up and stop serving God because doing right got him in trouble.
Joseph did not do this. Was he devastated? Probably!
Was he outraged at the injustice? Most
likely!
Was he defeated? No!
Did he give up on God? No!
Vs. 21 – God was still with Joseph.
God showed Joseph mercy.
God gave Joseph favor in the
eyes of the keeper of
the prison.
God did not deliver Joseph from jail
because God had a plan that involved the jail (See Genesis 40-41).
God may not deliver you right away from
suffering for what is right, but He will show His mercy upon you as you remain
consistent.
Vs. 22-23
- Joseph again did a conscientious job.
Joseph remained faithful to God. He was
consistent
Joseph did his job as well as he had
before.
It wasn’t long before Joseph ran the
jail.
Remember this, my friend, God is keeping
score.
God knows how you’ve been mistreated.
God will settle the score in his time
whether it be in this life or at Judgment Day.
If you have stood for what is right and
have been falsely accused, continue to be faithful! Continue to be consistent! Romans 12:19-21, 1
Corinthians 4:2
BE COURAGEOUS BECAUSE GOD IS WITH YOU –
BE CONSCIENTIOUS BECAUSE GOD IS WITH YOU
–
BE CONSISTENT BECAUSE GOD IS WITH YOU -
Vss. 20-23
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Genesis 39
STANDING FOR GOD
Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. In
HE ACTED PRODUCTIVELY - Vss. 1-6
HE AVOIDED TEMPTATION - Vss. 7-13
HE WAS ACCUSED FALSELY - Vss. 14-20
HE ACCEPTED HIS PUNISHMENT - Vss. 21-23
Although Joseph did not deserve to be in jail, he
continued to do what he had always done. He worked hard. The Lord was with him.
The Lord blessed.
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Genesis 39:12 etc.
MOVING UP
There are times when God requires us to leave something behind
in order to move up to something better.
LEAVING TEMPTATION FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS – Genesis 39:12 (Genesis
39:7-12)
And she caught him by his
garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment
in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
Joseph refused to be enticed by Potiphar’s
wife.
However, the temptation became so great that he had to run!
Joseph moved up by maintaining his righteousness when tempted. 1
Corinthians 10:12-14
LEAVING SECULAR WORK FOR FULLTIME CHRISTIAN SERVICE – Matthew
4:20
(Matthew 4:18-22)
And they straightway left
their nets, and followed him.
In Matthew 4:19 Jesus called the apostles to follow Him and that
he would make them “fishers of men”.
Not every Christian is called to full time Christian employment,
but everyone is called to follow Jesus full time. Luke 9:23-24
LEAVING A GIFT FOR RECONCILIATION – Matthew 5:23-24 (Matthew
5:21-14)
Matthew 5:23-24 - Therefore
if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest
that thy brother hath ought against thee; [24] Leave there thy gift before the
altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and
offer thy gift.
When we come to worship and realize someone has something
against us, we are to leave our gift of worship and first be reconciled to our
brother.
LEAVING THE CARES OF THIS WORLD FOR RECONCILIATION – John 4:28
(John 4:25-30)
The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the
men,
The woman went to draw water, but found something more important
than the cares of this world.
She left her water pot to go tell others about Jesus.
LEAVING THE BASICS FOR MATURITY – Hebrews 6:1 (Hebrews 6:1-2)
Hebrews 6:1 - Therefore
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;
not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith
toward God,
Our learning of Scripture should move us beyond the very important
basics of the Gospel into a life of Christian maturity.
LEAVING WEIGHTS AND SINS FOR THE RACE – Hebrews 12:1-2
Wherefore seeing we also
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, [2] Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher
of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The weights are anything that will slow us down.
I believe that sin being referred to hear is unbelief.
Our focus is to be on Jesus.