Anointed to do Good Works in Christ – Genesis 39-40

“Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So, Joseph found favor in his sight and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.” Genesis 39:1-6

Have you ever been taken somewhere against your will? Was it to a place that you had never been before? Joseph’s life was in the hands of foreigners. He went where they took him. He ate the food they gave him. He learned the language they spoke. His days were ordered according to their needs.

Amidst all the injustices that Joseph experienced, the Lord was with him. The Lord helped Joseph to adapt to a life that he never wanted to live and still succeed.

Joseph was only 17 years old when his freedom was taken from him, yet he was quickly promoted to the position of overseer of his master’s estate. The Scripture says that the Lord made everything that was entrusted to him to prosper. The Lord blessed everything the Egyptian had for Joseph’s sake, and the Egyptian recognized it. He let Joseph run everything.

God anointed Joseph to be a type of Christ to his generation. Joseph was anointed by God to do good works. In Mark 7:37, people said of Jesus, “He has done all things well.” Potipher’s wealth increased under Joseph’s supervision. The Heavenly Father’s kingdom grew under Jesus’ care.

One difference between Joseph and Jesus was their outer appearance. Joseph was handsome. Genesis 29:17 says, “Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance.” Joseph inherited his mother’s good looks. Isaiah 53:2 says of Jesus, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” God chose to give His Son a non-astounding appearance. The beauty of Christ on earth was His inner being. Inwardly speaking, Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the express image of God’s person.

“And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’” Genesis 39:7-9

Good looks can be a blessing and a curse. If you live among sexual predators, good looks may draw the kind of gazes that you don’t want.

When a sexual predator attempted to lure Joseph into her trap, he made it clear to her that she was tempting him to do great wickedness and sin against God. He refused her. Joseph was not greedy for something more. He was grateful for the kindness, generosity and trust that her husband had shown him. Thus, Joseph did not succumb to temptation.

In Matthew 4:1-11, the devil tempted Jesus to sin. Jesus used the Word of God which is also called the sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6:17 to defeat the devil’s lies. In Matthew 4:10, Jesus rebuked the devil, saying, “Away with you Satan.” Matthew 4:11 says that angels ministered to Jesus after this encounter.

Remember! “All that shines is not gold!” Proverbs 5-7 warn against adultery. Proverbs 7:21-23 compares the person who yields to adulterous temptations to an animal taking a hunter’s bait and being destroyed by the trap.

In Matthew 5:28, Jesus declared lust an act of adultery in one’s heart. James 1:14-15 describes the process, “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” Lust and adultery begin with a thought, progress to a desire, and then become a sin when acted on, and conclude with death.

In John 15:4 Jesus said, “Abide in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” The key to victory over temptation is to abide in Christ. Keep your soul well-fed with Scripture, prayer and obedience to God’s will. Don’t go to places where temptation exists. Beware of TV shows, movies and commercials! Like the devil, many want to reach out to you as though a friend, but in reality, their goal is to deceive, rob and enslave you. 1 John 2:17 says, “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

When temptations come my way, I tell myself, “Abide in Christ. Abide in Christ.” 1 John 3:6 says, “Whoever abides in Him does not sin.” The King of kings keeps my heart from the heartbreaker.

In Luke 9:23, Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” If our mindset is to serve our sinful flesh, there are endless opportunities to do that. But then, what will we have? Shame! We can make choices but we cannot choose the consequences. Jesus urged us to deny ourselves and follow Him. Live by the law of love! Love for God and love for neighbor. It is hard to limp between two positions. In 1 Kings 18:21, Elijah said to all the people, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him.”

“So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her. But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand and fled and ran outside. And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, ‘See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.’” Genesis 39:10-15

The devil is relentless. You didn’t fall to a particular temptation today? Great! Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flow the springs of life.” 1 Peter 5:8 compares the devil to a roaming and roaring lion seeking for someone to devour.

In Ephesians 6:10-20, the Lord urges us to put on the full armor of God. When I lived in China, I was very aware of spiritual forces of wickedness. There were people who wanted to arrest, humiliate, punish and destroy Christians. One wrong step and I would have been destroyed. In the USA, the devil is destroying souls via lust and pride, but few seem to see any danger in it.

Many nations lack witnesses for Christ. The mission field needs laborers. We should be raising up and sending missionaries not indulging our flesh with endless feasts and entertainment.

When the devil could not bag Joseph via a seductive temptation, he resorted to violence against him. The same predator who sought to defile Joseph, sought to destroy him when he refused her advances. In Revelation 17, Jesus reveals to us a harlot who uses seduction to allure unsuspecting souls into her service. In Revelation 13, Jesus reveals to us a beast who uses deprivation and pain to bend people’s knees to him. In both cases, we need Christ to prevail. James 4:7 says, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

“So, she kept his garment with her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, ‘The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.’ So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, ‘Your servant did to me after this manner,’ that his anger was aroused. Then, Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.” Genesis 39:16-20

Potipher’s wife bore false testimony against Joseph. In the Gospel’s, the Pharisees suborned false witnesses to testify against Christ. Both Joseph and Jesus were unjustly arrested. They paid a price for someone else’s sin. Thankfully, both were anointed by God to be good witnesses.

“But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.” Genesis 39:21-23

The Lord was merciful to Joseph. Psalm 103:13-14 says, “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust.” The Lord blessed Joseph with a supervisor who looked upon him favorably. The Lord also blessed Joseph to manage the prison well. Most managers appreciate people on their team who can carry the burden of overseeing day to day operations. And God was using Joseph’s current circumstances to prepare him for the next phase of his witness for God.

“It came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler, and the chief baker. So, he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so, they were in custody for a while.” Genesis 40:1-4

God moves in mysterious ways. In a sense, the Lord brought Pharoah’s court into the prison for Joseph’s sake. The Pharoah’s chief butler and baker were now under his care. He was able to learn insights and information about the Pharoah of Egypt from these men.

“Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them and saw that they were sad. So. he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, ‘Why do you look so sad today?’ And they said to him, ‘We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.’ So, Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.’” Genesis 40:5-8

But the Lord was not done yet. He gave the butler and baker dreams that they wanted interpreted. Joseph knew that he could interpret their dreams with God’s help.

The 17 prophetic books from Isaiah to Malachi are almost entirely made up of visions. In the case of Obadiah and Nahum, entirely made up of visions! Isaiah and Ezekiel begin their books by stating that the Lord gave them visions. The Book of Revelation came to John as a vision. There are also numerous passages of the Bible that stem from dreams that God gave to people.

Even Joseph’s witness for God was set in motion after God gave him dreams.

“Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, ‘Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. Then, Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.’ And Joseph said to him, ‘This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. Now, within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me. Make mention of me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also, I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.’” Genesis 40:9-15

The Spirit of God, who gave to the butler his dream, was also able to give to Joseph its interpretation. John 1:18 says that Jesus declares God. The Greek word for “declared” in this text is “εξηγησατο.” The word “εξηγησατο” is from the Greek verb “ἐξηγέομαι” (exégeomai), which means to explain, interpret, or declare in detail. Jesus is the interpreter of God for us. He helps us to understand God. He helped Joseph to interpret the butler’s dream.

“When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, ‘I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.’ So, Joseph answered and said, ‘This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.’” Genesis 40:16-19

The baker not the butler committed the crime. The baker was executed. The butler exonerated.

“Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Then, he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph but forgot him.” Genesis 40:29-23

Joseph had hoped that the butler would advocate before Pharoah for his release from prison, but he forgot Joseph. However, two full years later, Pharaoh had a dream and needed an interpreter. In Genesis 41:9-13, the butler confessed his error to Pharoah concerning Joseph. He told Pharoah about Joseph. In Genesis 41:14, Pharoah released Joseph from prison. In Genesis 41:25-36, Joseph told Pharoah the interpretation of his dream. In Genesis 41:42-44, Pharoah made Joseph second in command over all Egypt.

Genesis 41:46 says that Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Luke 3:23 says that Jesus was about 30 years of age when He started His ministry. The Lord anointed Joseph to save the people of the world from starvation during a famine. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus announced, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

The people of Joseph’s day looked to Joseph to meet their earthly needs. We look to Jesus, and He richly provides for our temporal and eternal needs. Plus, 2 Peter 1:4 says that He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them we may become partakers of the divine nature... anointed to do good works in Christ. Praise the Lord!