Potipher’s wife – now there’s a gem

The Story of Joseph – pt 2

Once in Egypt, Joseph is sold to Potipher, the captain of the guards.  Joseph grows into a handsome young man and he catches the eye of Potipher’s wife. She tries to seduce him, but Joseph refuses. Claiming that it would be a sin against God.

I love the fact that Joseph saw this as a sin against God – not against man. No wonder Joseph found God’s favor. Joseph lived his life to honor God, not man.

Potipher’s wife continues to scheme. There comes a day that no one is in the house besides she and Joseph. She once again seduces Joseph, this time she actually grabs his coat as he runs away. The rejected Potipher’s wife yells rape and Joseph is put into jail.

In prison, God shows favor on Joseph and he is put in charge of all the prisoners. The bible says that the keeper of the prison had to need to watch over Joseph because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

This is the second time in Joseph’s young life that he has been treated to desperately wrong. Joseph continues to honor God in every situation. In return, God shows favor on him and Joseph is successful in everything he does.

(Genesis 39 ESV)

The Dreamcoat

The Story of Joseph – pt 1

Jacob had twelve sons. These become the twelve tribes of Israel. Rachel was the mother of the two youngest, Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel died after giving birth to Benjamin. As Joseph grew, he became his father’s favorite; a favoritism that Jacob did not hide from his other sons. As a token of his love for Joseph, Jacob gave him the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – great title for a musical.

Strike One:

But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.   Genesis 37:4 ESV

Joseph was a dreamer, literally. He had dreams and they came true. At the age of 17 he had a dream; in it he saw his bothers bowing down to him. Joseph shares this dream with his bothers, no doubt he was wearing his Dreamcoat, making it the last straw for his bothers.

Strike Two:

But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.    Genesis 37:4 ESV

You’re Out!

Joseph’s brothers make a plan to kill him, while in the process, they decide it would be easier to sell him and tell their father that he had died. That’s what they did. They sold Joseph to a group of traders heading for Egypt. They took the Dreamcoat, tore it, dipped it in blood and returned it to Jacob.

Joseph is taken as a slave to Egypt to be sold.

Genesis 37