Genesis 39 (Prospering In Very Difficult & Tempting Times)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+39

Key words / phrases:- Great suffering / persecution / evil on righteous, The Great Temptation, Holding on to faith & righteousness amid great persecution & temptations, Depending on God alone, Real Overcomer, Prospering at workplace, Evangelism at workplace

This passage / chapter can be easily titled as "Prospering In Very Difficult & Tempting Times"

Potential Discussion Questions:-

• Reflect deeply and well on the hardships / sufferings / persecutions Joseph has been facing since childhood (till this chapter). Did Joseph deserve those? If not then why did God allow those on Joseph? Do Christians suffer in similar ways in today’s time?

Joseph seems to have had quite a difficult & challenging childhood & youth. There was bad parenting leading to hatred towards him (Genesis 37:3-4), sexual immorality among brothers (Genesis 35:22, Genesis 38:16), murderous & grossly evil intent towards him leading to him being sold as a slave by his own brothers (Genesis 37). He gets forcefully separated from his family at a very young age, as a slave, into a foreign land. His woes continue, when he false accused of sexual assault by the wife of a very high ranking government official and gets thrown into prison. Joseph was in slavery and then in prison possibly for combined THIRTEEN years (Genesis 37:2, Genesis 41:46)!

The woes of Joseph were overwhelming indeed. And he did not deserve any of those? Then, why did God allow all these sufferings and persecutions on him, who is very righteous and also greatly loved by God?! I partly addressed this here: http://devos20xx.blogspot.com/2017/01/on-suffering.html. Remember God's ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8) . God allows sufferings on righteous too (Jesus warns:- "John 16:33: In this world you will have trouble, Matthew 10:16-28: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves"). Sufferings, like these are very much part of His great plan to save and bless the world.

• Reflect deeply and well, on how & why Joseph held on to his faith, despite continually going through very bad times. Can you do that too?

First of all note that, despite great hardships, Joseph also finds himself in a place (away from home / family, as a slave and then as a prisoner) where he is dependent on God alone and no one else! That is actually a very good to be in!

Having said that, it's really amazing and mind boggling, how Joseph remains steadfast in his faith, despite continually going through difficult times as described earlier. He managed to keep himself righteous, despite substantial immorality in his home (He distinctly stood out in terms of righteousness among his brothers). The prolonged hard, mean, & tempting times did not knock the faith out of him! Instead, he continuously shines bright in his faith. How do you do that??

On the other hand, have you wondered how often Joseph may have felt abandoned and / or doubted God during all those hard times as a slave and in prison, away from family and home at a very young age, for THIRTEEN long years? Can you relate to him on this?

• How has been God responding to Joseph’s sufferings so far? Has God been responding to your sufferings in similar ways?

God was very proactively helping & guiding Joseph in his difficult times (v 2-6, 21-23). Three times it is mentioned that "the Lord was with him". As a Christian, we should expect the same from God (Isaiah 58:11, John 10:28, Deuteronomy 31:6, etc). But also, we must pursue righteousness, else we may hinder in God's providences (i.e., Isaiah 59:2). Note, here how Joseph refused to sleep with Potiphar's wife (v 8-9) and sin against God.

• Joseph seems to be a very blessed man. As a Christian, do you feel blessed likewise? If not, then why?

(See the response above)

• A MAJOR TAKE-AWAY FROM THE PASSAGE:- Reflect on the kind of temptations Joseph has been facing? Do you face similar temptations in today’s time? How have you been coping with them? Reflect on how Joseph coped with them?

Not only Joseph faced great persecution, but also great temptation & pressure to indulge in pleasure-bound sexual sin (v10: "she spoke to Joseph DAY BY DAY"). But good for Joseph - He overcame and did not yield (He fled as per, 1 Corinthians 6:18 "Flee from sexual immorality")! In this enormously broken and sinful world, Christians continuously face great temptations to sin as well (sexual immorality, various forms idolatry in general, are quite rampant and pervasive in this world and pose great pressure to sin). There is quite a deal to learn from Joseph, as we continually battle great temptations to sin.

Follow up question:- Remember and reflect on all kinds of great temptations and pressures to sin in this world?

• What do you learn about workplace prosperity & evangelism from this passage?

I guess, at his workplace (including in prison), Joseph was a very righteous and diligent worker. As a result God blessed him, prospered him, and gave him favor in the eyes of his master (v3-4, v 21-23). Blessings on Joseph even spilled over to non-believers around him (v5 "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. ")! We should follow the footsteps of Joseph at our workplace. The result will be that people around us will know about God through us, as it happened in the case of Joseph (v 3 - 5).

Final Remarks

• The story of Joseph (A REAL BIG OVERCOMER) so far is very relevant to a Christian life. There is a lot of evil and suffering in this world, and God will allow some of those to touch a serious Christian. But, like Joseph, in hard times, a dedicated Christian will prosper and hold strong by God's grace. Like Joseph, a serious Christian will also face great temptations to sin. But, like Joseph one must overcome by God's grace.
  • Also, remember earlier in his youth Joseph had the prophetic dream (Genesis 37:5-7, 9) from God, of how he will greatly prosper and his family will bow before him one day. Since then Joseph has seen a lot of miseries (being sold as slave, accused of sexual assault, being thrown in prison) and nothing close to that glorious dream of his future! Do you think in the process, Joseph may have started to doubt that dream from God and may have also felt ashamed of sharing it with his family members, who in turn had mocked him for it? Likewise, we Christians have a glorious future that has been revealed to us by God in the Bible - That we will have glorious bodies and glorious / prosperous future in the presence of God. But as we go through the sufferings & grinds of this world (including being mocked for believing in the glorious promises in the Bible), do we at times doubt it?! Like Joseph, we have to WAIT, as God's plan of redemption and glorious future is unfolding in God's perfect timing - Romans 8:18-21 "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. "
• Around the beginning, Adam, the first man and the father of humanity, failed humanity and fell to sin, when tempted by Satan (https://www.gotquestions.org/Satan-serpent.html), at the garden of Eden (Genesis 3). On the other hand, around the beginning of his ministry, Jesus, the second Adam, succeeded in overcoming the great temptation by Satan in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). Many consider Joseph as a foreshadow of Christ in Old Testament. Like Jesus, in his early days, Joseph also succeeded in overcoming the great test of temptation by not sleeping with Potiphar's wife.
• Note a shift in "tone" in the inner character of God's people featured in Old Testament so far. From Adam to brothers of Joseph, we see all these people greatly struggle to remain righteous. But in the case of Joseph, not once in thirteen Chapters of Genesis, we see him fall. This probably goes towards the case many make for Joseph being a fore-shadow of Christ in Old Testament.