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42 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty nine. At this chapter we returned to the
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Speaker 1: story of Joseph. We have him here Roman I, a servant,
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Speaker 1: a slave in Potiphar's house verse one, and yet there
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Speaker 1: greatly honored and favored one, by the providence of God,
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Speaker 1: which made him in effect a master Verses two to six. Two,
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Speaker 1: by the grace of God which made him more than
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Speaker 1: a conqueror over a strong temptation to uncleanness Verses seven
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Speaker 1: to twelve. Roman two. We have him here a sufferer,
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Speaker 1: falsely accused Verses thirteen to eighteen, imprisoned Verses nineteen twenty.
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Speaker 1: And yet his imprisonment made both honorable and comfortable by
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Speaker 1: the tokens of God's special presence with him Verses twenty
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Speaker 1: one to twenty three. And herein Joseph was a type
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Speaker 1: of Christ, who took upon him the form of a servant,
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Speaker 1: and yet then did that which made it evident that
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Speaker 1: God was with him, who was tempted by Satan. But
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Speaker 1: overcame the temptation, who was falsely accused and bound, and
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Speaker 1: yet had all things committed to his hand. The History
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Speaker 1: of Joseph b c. Seven twenty one, Verses one to six.
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Speaker 1: And Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potifar and
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Speaker 1: officer of Pharaoh, captain of the Guard, an Egyptian, bought
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Speaker 1: him out of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had
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Speaker 1: brought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph,
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Speaker 1: and he was a prosperous man, and he was in
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Speaker 1: the house of his master, the Egyptian, and his master
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Speaker 1: saw that the Lord was with him. And though the
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Speaker 1: Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand,
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Speaker 1: and Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him,
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Speaker 1: and he made him overseer over his house, and all
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Speaker 1: that he had he put into his hand. And it
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Speaker 1: came to pass from that time that he made him
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Speaker 1: overseer in his house and over all that he had.
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Speaker 1: That the Lord blessed the Egyptian house for Joseph's sake.
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Speaker 1: And the blessing of the Lord was upon all that
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Speaker 1: he had in the house and in the field. And
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Speaker 1: he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and
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Speaker 1: he knew not aught he had, save the bread, which
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Speaker 1: he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person and
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Speaker 1: well favored. Here is one Joseph bought verse one, and
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Speaker 1: he that bought him. Whatever he gave for him had
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Speaker 1: a good bargain of him. It was better than the
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Speaker 1: merchandise of silver. The Jews have a proverb, if the
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Speaker 1: world did but know the worth of good men, they
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Speaker 1: would hedge them about with pearls. He was sold to
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Speaker 1: an officer of Pharaoh, with whom he might get acquainted
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Speaker 1: with public persons in public business, and so be fitted
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Speaker 1: for the preferment for which he was designed. Note One,
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Speaker 1: what God intends men for, he will be sure somewhere
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Speaker 1: another to qualify them. For two, Providence is to be
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Speaker 1: acknowledged in the disposal of even poor servants and in
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Speaker 1: their settlements, and therein may perhaps be working towards something
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Speaker 1: great and important. Two. Joseph blessed wonderfully blest even in
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Speaker 1: the house of his servitude. One God prospers him Verses
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Speaker 1: two and three. Perhaps the affairs of Potiphar's family had
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Speaker 1: remarkably gone backward before, but upon Joseph's coming into it,
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Speaker 1: a discernible turn was given to them, and the face
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Speaker 1: and posture of them altered on a sudden. Though at
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Speaker 1: first we may suppose that his hand was put to
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Speaker 1: the meanest services even in those appeared his ingenuity and industry.
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Speaker 1: A particular blessing of heaven attended him, which, as he
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Speaker 1: rose in his employment, became more and more discernible. Note
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Speaker 1: peren one. Those that have wisdom and grace have that
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Speaker 1: which cannot be taken away from them, whatever else they
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Speaker 1: are robbed of. Joseph's brethren had stripped him of his
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Speaker 1: coat of many colors, but they could not strip him
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Speaker 1: of his virtue and prudence. Perenn too. Those that can
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Speaker 1: set rate us from all our friends, yet cannot deprive
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Speaker 1: us of the gracious presence of our God. When Joseph
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Speaker 1: had none of all his relations with him, he had
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Speaker 1: his God with him. Even in the house of the
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Speaker 1: Egyptian Joseph was separated from his brethren, but not from
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Speaker 1: his God, banished from his father's house, but the Lord
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Speaker 1: was with him and comforted him. Paren three. It is
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Speaker 1: God's presence with us that makes all we do prosperous.
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Speaker 1: Those that would prosper must therefore make God their friend,
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Speaker 1: and those that do prosper must therefore give God the praise. Two.
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Speaker 1: His master preferred him by degrees made him steward of
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Speaker 1: his household. Verse four. Note peren one industry and honesty
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Speaker 1: are the surest and safest way both of rising and thriving.
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Speaker 1: Seest Thou a man prudent and faithful, and diligent in
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Speaker 1: his business, he shall stand before kings at length, and
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Speaker 1: not always before mean men. Perend two. It is the
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Speaker 1: wisdom of those that are in any sort of authority
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Speaker 1: to countenance and employ those with whom it appears that
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Speaker 1: the presence of God is some one hundred and one.
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Speaker 1: Verse six. Potiphar knew what he did when he put
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Speaker 1: all into the hands of Joseph, for he knew it
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Speaker 1: would prosper better there than in his own hand. Peren three.
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Speaker 1: He that is faithful in a few things stand fair
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Speaker 1: for being made ruler over many things. Matthew, Chapter twenty five,
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Speaker 1: Verse twenty one. Christ goes by this rule with his servants.
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Speaker 1: Peren four. It is a great ease to a master
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Speaker 1: to have those employed under him that are trustworthy. Potiphar
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Speaker 1: was so well satisfied with Joseph's conduct that he knew
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Speaker 1: aught he had, save the bread which he did eat.
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Speaker 1: Verse six. The servant had all the care and trouble
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Speaker 1: of the estate. The master had only the enjoyment of it.
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Speaker 1: An example, not to be imitated by any master, unless
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Speaker 1: he could be sure that he had one in all respects,
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Speaker 1: like Joseph for a servant. Three, God favored his master
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Speaker 1: for his sake. Verse five. He blessed the Egyptian's house,
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Speaker 1: though he was an Egyptian, a stranger to the true God,
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Speaker 1: for Joseph's sake. And he himself, like Laban, soon learned
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Speaker 1: it by experience. Chapter thirty, verse twenty seven. Note peren. One.
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Speaker 1: Good men are the blessings of the places where they live.
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Speaker 1: Even good servants may be so, though mean and lightly esteemed. Perene. Two.
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Speaker 1: The prosperity of the wicked is one way or other
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Speaker 1: for the sake of the godly. Here was a wicked
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Speaker 1: family blessed for the sake of one good servant in
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Speaker 1: it verses seven to twelve. And it came to pass
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Speaker 1: after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes
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Speaker 1: upon Joseph, and she said, lie with me. But he refused,
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Speaker 1: and said, unto his master's wife. Behold, my master wotteth
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Speaker 1: not what is with me in the house. He hath
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Speaker 1: committed all that he hath to my hand. There is
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Speaker 1: none greater in this house than I, neither hath he
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Speaker 1: kept back anything from me but thee because thou art
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Speaker 1: his wife? How then can I do this great wickedness
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Speaker 1: and sin against God? And it came to pass, as
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Speaker 1: she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened
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Speaker 1: not unto her to lie by her or to be
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Speaker 1: with her. And it came to pass about this time
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Speaker 1: that Joseph went into the house to do his business,
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Speaker 1: and there was none of the men of the house
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Speaker 1: there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying,
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Speaker 1: lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand,
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Speaker 1: and fled and got him out. Here is Roman one
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Speaker 1: a most shameful instance of impudence and immodesty in Joseph's mistress,
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Speaker 1: the shame and scandal of her sex, perfectly lost to
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Speaker 1: all virtue and honor, and not to be mentioned nor
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Speaker 1: thought of without the utmost indignation. It was well that
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Speaker 1: she was an Egyptian, for we must have shared in
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Speaker 1: the confusion if such folly had been found in Israel.
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Speaker 1: Observe one. Her sin began in the eye. She cast
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Speaker 1: her eyes upon Joseph verse seven, who was a goodly
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Speaker 1: person and well favored Verse six. Note Perenne one remarkable beauty,
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Speaker 1: either of men or women, often proves a dangerous snare,
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Speaker 1: both to themselves and others, which forbids pride in it
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Speaker 1: and commands constant watchfulness against the temptation that attends it.
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Speaker 1: Favor is deceitful, deceiving Parene two. We have great need
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Speaker 1: to make a covenant with our eyes Job Chapter thirty one,
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Speaker 1: verse one, lest the eye infect the heart. Joseph's mistress
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Speaker 1: had a husband that ought to have been to her
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Speaker 1: for a covering of the eyes from all others. Chapter twenty,
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Speaker 1: verse sixteen two. She was daring and shameless in the sin,
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Speaker 1: with an impudent face and a harlot's forehead. She said,
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Speaker 1: lie with me, having already by her wanton looks and
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Speaker 1: unchaste desires, committed adultery with him in her heart. Note.
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Speaker 1: Where the unclean spirit gets possession and dominion in a soul,
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Speaker 1: it is as with the possessed of the devils. Luke,
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Speaker 1: Chapter eight, Verses twenty seven and twenty nine. The clothes
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Speaker 1: of modesty are thrown off, and the bands and fetters
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Speaker 1: of shame are broken in pieces. When lust has got head,
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Speaker 1: it will stick at nothing, blush at nothing. Decency and
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Speaker 1: reputation and conscience are all sacrificed to the Baal pure three.
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Speaker 1: She was urgent and violent in the temptation. Often she
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Speaker 1: had been denied with the strongest reasons, and yet as
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Speaker 1: often renewed her vile solicitations. She spoke to him day
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Speaker 1: by day Verse ten. Now this was foreren One great
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Speaker 1: wickedness in her, and showed her heart fully set to
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Speaker 1: do evil. Peren too, a great temptation to Joseph, the
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Speaker 1: hand of Satan. No doubt was in it, who, when
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Speaker 1: he found he could not overcome him with troubles and
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Speaker 1: the frowns of the world, for in them he still
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Speaker 1: feld fast his integrity, assaulted him with soft and charming pleasures,
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Speaker 1: which have ruined more than the former, and have slain
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Speaker 1: their ten thousands roman Io. Here is a most illustrious
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Speaker 1: instance of virtue and resolved chastity in Joseph, who, by
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Speaker 1: the grace of God was enabled to resist and overcome
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Speaker 1: this temptation, and all things considered, his escape was for aught.
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Speaker 1: I know as great an instance of the divine power
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Speaker 1: as the deliverance of the three children out of the
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Speaker 1: fiery furnace one the temptation he was assaulted with was
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Speaker 1: very strong. Never was a more violent onset made on
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Speaker 1: the ford of chastity than this recorded here Pern one.
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Speaker 1: The sin he was tempted to was uncleanness, which, considering
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Speaker 1: his youth, his beauty, his single state, and his plentiful
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Speaker 1: living at the table of a ruler, was a sin
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Speaker 1: which one would think, might most easily beset him and
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Speaker 1: betray him. Two. The tempter was his mistress, a person
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Speaker 1: of quality whom it was his place to obey and
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Speaker 1: his interest to oblige, whose favor would contribute more than
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Speaker 1: anything to his preferment, and by whose means he might
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Speaker 1: arrive at the highest honors of the court. On the
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Speaker 1: other hand, it was at his utmost peril if he
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Speaker 1: slighted her and made her his enemy. Peren Three. Opportunity
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Speaker 1: makes a thief, makes an adulterer, and that favored the temptation.
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Speaker 1: The tempter was in the house with him. His business
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Speaker 1: led him to be without any suspicion where she was.
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Speaker 1: None of the family were within Verse eleven, there appeared
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Speaker 1: no danger of its ever being discovered, or if it
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Speaker 1: should be suspected, his mistress would protect him. Peren four.
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Speaker 1: To all this was added importunity, frequent, constant importunity, to
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Speaker 1: such degree that at last she laid violent hands on him. Two.
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Speaker 1: His resistance of the temptation was very brave, and the
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Speaker 1: victory truly honorable. The almighty grace of God enabled him
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Speaker 1: to overcome this assault of the enemy Parene one by
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Speaker 1: strength of reason, And wherever right reason may be heard,
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Speaker 1: religion no doubt, will carry the day. He argues, from
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Speaker 1: the respect he owed both to God and his Master
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Speaker 1: Verses eight and nine. Sub one, he would not wrong
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Speaker 1: his Master, nor do such an irreparable injury to his honor.
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Speaker 1: He considers and urges, how kind his Master have been
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Speaker 1: to him, what a confidence he had reposed in him,
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Speaker 1: in how many instances he had befriended him, for which
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Speaker 1: he abhorred the thought of making such an ungrateful return.
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Speaker 1: Note we are bound in honor, as well as justice
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Speaker 1: and gratitude, not in anything to injure those that have
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Speaker 1: a good opinion of us and place a trust in us,
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Speaker 1: how secretly soever it may be done. See how he
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Speaker 1: argues verse nine, there is none greater in this house
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Speaker 1: than I. Therefore I will not do it. Note those
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Speaker 1: that are great, instead of being proud of their greatness
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Speaker 1: should use it as an argument against sin. Is none
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Speaker 1: greater than I, then I will scorn to do a
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Speaker 1: wicked thing. It is below me to serve a base lust.
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Speaker 1: I will not disparage myself so much. Sub Two, He
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Speaker 1: would not offend his God. This is the chief argument
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Speaker 1: with which he strengthens his aversions to the sin. How
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Speaker 1: can I do this? Not only how shall I? Or
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Speaker 1: how dare I? But how can I? I possumas quad
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Speaker 1: juree possumas we can do that which we can do lawfully.
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Speaker 1: It is good to shut out sin with the strongest bar,
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Speaker 1: even that of an impossibility. He that is born of
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Speaker 1: God cannot sin. First John chapter three, verse nine. Three arguments,
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Speaker 1: Joseph urges upon himself. First, he considers who he was
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Speaker 1: that was tempted. I others perhaps may take their liberty,
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Speaker 1: but I cannot. I that am an Israelite in covenant
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Speaker 1: with God, that profess religion and relation to him. It
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Speaker 1: is next to impossible for me to do so. Secondly,
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Speaker 1: what the sin was to which he was tempted? This
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Speaker 1: great wickedness. Others might look upon it as a small matter,
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Speaker 1: a pecadillo, a trick of youth. But Joseph had another
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Speaker 1: idea of it. In general, when at any time we
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Speaker 1: are tempted to sin, we must consider the great wickedness
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Speaker 1: there is in it. Let sin appear sin Romans, Chapter seven,
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Speaker 1: verse thirteen, call it by its own name, and never
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Speaker 1: go about to lessen it. Particularly, Let the sin of
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Speaker 1: uncleanness always be looked upon as great wickedness and as
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Speaker 1: exceedingly sinful, sin that wars against the soul as much
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Speaker 1: as any other. Thirdly, against whom he was tempted to
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Speaker 1: sin against God. Not only how shall I do it?
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Speaker 1: And sin against my Master, my mistress, myself, my own
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Speaker 1: body and soul, but against God. Note gracious souls look
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Speaker 1: upon this as the worst thing in sin, that it
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Speaker 1: is against God, against his nature and his dominion, against
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Speaker 1: his love and his design. Those that love God do
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Speaker 1: for this reason hate sin paren too. By steadfast resolution,
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Speaker 1: the grace of God enabled him to overcome the temptation
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Speaker 1: by avoiding the tempter. Sub one, he hearkened not to
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Speaker 1: her so much as to be with her. Verse ten.
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Speaker 1: Note those that would be kept from harm must keep
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Speaker 1: themselves out of harm's way, avoid it, pass not by it, nay.
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Speaker 1: Sub two when she laid hold of him, he left
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Speaker 1: his garment in her hand verse twelve. He would not
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Speaker 1: stay so much as to parley with the temptation, but
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Speaker 1: flew out from it with the utmost abhorrence. He left
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Speaker 1: his garment as one escaping for his life. Note it
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Speaker 1: is better to lose a good coat than a good
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Speaker 1: conscience Verses thirteen to eighteen. And it came to pass
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Speaker 1: when she saw that he had left his garment in
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Speaker 1: her hand and fled forth. That she called unto the
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Speaker 1: men of the house, and spaken to them, saying, see,
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Speaker 1: he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us.
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Speaker 1: He came in unto me to lie with me, And
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Speaker 1: I cried with a loud voice. And it came to
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Speaker 1: pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice
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Speaker 1: and cried that he left his garment with me, and
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Speaker 1: fled and got him out, And she laid up his
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Speaker 1: garment by her until his lord came home, and she
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Speaker 1: spake unto him according to these words, saying, the Hebrew
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Speaker 1: servant which thou hast brought unto us, came unto me
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Speaker 1: to mock me. And it came to pass as I
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Speaker 1: lifted up my voice and cried that he left his
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Speaker 1: garment with me and fled out. Joseph's mistress, having tried
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Speaker 1: in vain to make him a criminal, now endeavors to
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Speaker 1: represent him as one, so to be revenged on him
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Speaker 1: for his virtue. Now was her love turned into the
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Speaker 1: utmost rage and malice, And she pretends she cannot endure
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Speaker 1: the sight of him, whom a while ago she could
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Speaker 1: not endure out of her sight. Chaste and holy love
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Speaker 1: will continue, though slighted, but sinful love, like amnons to Tamar,
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Speaker 1: is easily changed into sinful hatred. One she accused him
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Speaker 1: to his fellow servants Verses thirteen to fifteen, and gave
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Speaker 1: him a bad name among them. Probably they envied him
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Speaker 1: his interest in their master's favor and his authority in
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Speaker 1: the house, and perhaps found themselves aggrieved sometimes by his fidelity,
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Speaker 1: which prevented their poor lorning. And therefore they were glad
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Speaker 1: to hear anything that might tend to his disgrace, and,
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Speaker 1: if there was room for it, incensed their mistress yet
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Speaker 1: more against him. Observe, when she speaks of her husband,
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Speaker 1: she does not call him her husband or my lord,
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Speaker 1: but only he, For she had forgotten the covenant of
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Speaker 1: her God that was betwixt them. Thus, the adulteress Proverbs,
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Speaker 1: chapter seven, verse nineteen, calls her husband the good man.
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Speaker 1: Note innocence itself cannot secure a man's reputation. Every One
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Speaker 1: that keeps a good conscience can keep a good name.
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Speaker 1: She accused him to his master, who had power in
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Speaker 1: his hand to punish him, which his fellow servants had
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Speaker 1: not Verses seventeen eighteen. Observe perenn one. What an improbable
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Speaker 1: story she tells, producing his garment as an evidence that
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Speaker 1: he had offered violence to her, which was a plain
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Speaker 1: indication that she had offered violence to him. Note those
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Speaker 1: that have broken the bonds of modesty will never be
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Speaker 1: held by the bonds of truth. No marvel that she,
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Speaker 1: who had impudence enough to say, lie with me, had
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Speaker 1: front enough to say he would have lain with me.
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Speaker 1: Had the lie been told to conceal her own crime,
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Speaker 1: it would have been bad enough, yet in some degree excusable.
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Speaker 1: But it was told to be revenged upon his virtue,
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Speaker 1: a most malicious lie. And yet peren too, she manages
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Speaker 1: it so as to incense her husband against him, reflecting
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Speaker 1: upon him for bringing this Hebrew servant among them, perhaps
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Speaker 1: at first against her mind, because he was a Hebrew. Note,
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Speaker 1: it is no new thing for the best of men
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Speaker 1: to be falsely accused of the worst of crimes by
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Speaker 1: those who themselves are the worst of criminals. As this
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Speaker 1: matter was represented, one would have thought chaste Joseph was
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Speaker 1: a very bad man, and whose wanton mistress a virtuous woman.
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Speaker 1: It is well that there is a day of discovery coming,
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Speaker 1: in which all shall appear in their true characters. This
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Speaker 1: was not the first time that Joseph's coat was made
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Speaker 1: use of as a false witness concerning him. His father
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Speaker 1: had been deceived by it before now his master Verses
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Speaker 1: nineteen to twenty three. And it came to pass when
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Speaker 1: his master heard the words of his wife, which she
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Speaker 1: spake unto him, saying, after this manner did thy servant
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Speaker 1: to me, that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph's master
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Speaker 1: took him and put him into prison, a place where
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Speaker 1: the king's prisoners were bound. And he was there in prison,
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Speaker 1: But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy
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Speaker 1: and gave him in favor. In the sight of the
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Speaker 1: keeper of the prison, and the keeper of the prison
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Speaker 1: committed to Joseph's hand. All the prisoners that were in
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Speaker 1: the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the
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Speaker 1: doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not
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Speaker 1: to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord
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Speaker 1: was with him, and that which he did, the Lord
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Speaker 1: made it to prosper. Here is one Joseph wronged by
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Speaker 1: his master. He believed the accusation, and either Joseph durst
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Speaker 1: not make his defense by telling the truth, as it
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Speaker 1: would reflect too much upon his mistress, or his master
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Speaker 1: would not hear it or would not believe it. And
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Speaker 1: there is no remedy. He is condemned to perpetual imprisonment
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Speaker 1: Verses nineteen twenty. God restrained his wrath, else he had
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Speaker 1: put him to death, and that wrath which imprisoned him
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Speaker 1: God made to turn to his praise, in order to
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Speaker 1: which Providence so disposed that he should be shut up
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Speaker 1: among the king's prisoners, the state prisoners Potiphar. It is
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Speaker 1: likely chose that prison because it was the worst, for
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Speaker 1: there the iron entered into the soul p. One hundred five,
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Speaker 1: verse eighteen. But God designed to pave the way to
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Speaker 1: his enlargement. He was committed to the King's prison, that
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Speaker 1: he might thence be preferred to the King's person. Note many,
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Speaker 1: an action of false imprisonment will in the great day
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Speaker 1: be found to lie against the enemies and persecutors of
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Speaker 1: God's people. Our Lord Jesus, like Joseph here was bound
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Speaker 1: and numbered with the transgressors. Two. Joseph owned and writed
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Speaker 1: by his God, who is and will be the just
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Speaker 1: and powerful patron of oppressed innocence. Joseph was at a
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Speaker 1: distance from all his friends and relations, had not them
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Speaker 1: with him to comfort him, or to minister to him,
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Speaker 1: or to mediate for him. But the Lord was with
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Speaker 1: Joseph and showed him mercy verse twenty one. Note peren one.
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Speaker 1: God despises not his prisoners, Psalm sixty nine, verse thirty three.
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Speaker 1: No gates nor can shut out his gracious presence from
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Speaker 1: his people, for he has promised that he will never
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Speaker 1: leave them paren too. Those that have a good conscience
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Speaker 1: in a prison have a good God. There, integrity and
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Speaker 1: uprightness qualify us for the defined favor wherever we are.
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Speaker 1: Joseph is not long a prisoner before he becomes a
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Speaker 1: little ruler, even in the prison, which is to be
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Speaker 1: attributed under God. Sub one to the keeper's favor. God
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Speaker 1: gave him favor in the sight of the keeper the prison.
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Speaker 1: Note God can raise up friends for his people even
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Speaker 1: where they little expect to find them, and can make
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Speaker 1: them to be pitied even of those that carry them captive. P.
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Speaker 1: One hundred and six, Verse forty six. Sub two to
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Speaker 1: Joseph's fitness for business. The keeper saw that God was
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Speaker 1: with him and that everything prospered under his hand, and
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Speaker 1: therefore entrusted him with the management of the affairs of
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Speaker 1: the prison. Verses twenty two and twenty three. Note wisdom
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Speaker 1: and virtue will shine in the near perist spheres. A
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Speaker 1: good man will do good wherever he is, and will
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Speaker 1: be a blessing even in bond's and banishment, for the
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Speaker 1: spirit of the Lord is not bound nor banished, Witness
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Speaker 1: Saint Paul Philippians, Chapter one, Verses twelve and thirteen. End
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Speaker 1: of chapter thirty nine.