# 44 2023 Dev. Ge. 39:2 God’s Provision! Read all of chapter thirty nine first . We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Ge.39:2 “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.”
Ch.39 is the story of Joseph in Egypt. God placed Joseph where he needed him to be to fulfill God’s purposes. I believe Joseph understood that God was with him, but I imagine he wondered where this was all going. It did not happen overnight. Like most of us, he was a little impatient.
Vs.1-6 It must have been several years before Joseph was trusted and Potiphar put him in charge of all his goods and business. God empowered Joseph to make the right decisions in order to prosper his master’s estate. Does God still empower people like that today? Yes He does, even unbelievers because He has a purpose for them as well, often for the good of God’s followers. Of course God empowers all believers to fulfill His purposes, it is the function of the Holy Spirit in our lives insofar as we listen to the Spirit. The Spirit does not force us and we may even push Him away in some instances. Listen carefully for the Holy Spirit, He speaks softly.
Vs.7-10 “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’” Joseph refused, citing that her husband put him in charge of all except for her, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” Joseph was walking close to God!
Vs.11-20 When no-one was around she grabbed him by his coat, to force him to bed but Joseph left his coat and ran off. She used his coat against him, turning the story around; Joseph had tried to take her and when she screamed he ran off, leaving his coat. I wonder what she was thinking when Joseph was appointed second in command? I suspect that Potiphar had his suspicions, one would think that as a slave he would have been put to death, but no, he went to jail.
Vs.21-23 ”But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.” God was with Joseph but Potiphar was the captain of the guard who would be familiar with the warden of the prison. God placed Joseph in the right place and with the right people. Being in charge of everything in the prison meant he had a cushy job as far as a prisoner is concerned and had access to all the prisoners. “The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” God still does that for all who call on the name of the Lord!
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