Potiphar's Wife

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed. (Genesis 39:6-23 ESV). The story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife came to mind as I was writing yesterday’s devotional. I talked a bit about the unnamed people of the Bible. In our reading today we know some of the characters names. We know the young handsome man. That was Joseph. We know the older man. He was obviously important, a person of standing in the royal court, a man of influence and integrity, and Joseph’s master and owner. His name is Potiphar. But who’s the woman? She knows how to use everyone else for her own ends; she is forceful, manipulative, lustful, and vengeful. Surely the story records her name too; after all, she dominates the scene in this story. She is determined either to seduce or to destroy Joseph, browbeating his fellow-slaves, both betraying and deceiving her own husband Potiphar. Well, we really don’t need to trouble ourselves over a name for her, says the Lord. It’s of no significance in my scheme of things. From my point of view, as I tell the story, all she is there for is to forward my plans, in order to get my servant Joseph into the place from which he will rise to be Grand Vizier of Egypt, and the savior of nations. That’s how our God works. Again the message is clear. Trust in Him. He always has our good working!