More to the Story: The Life of Joseph
I am currently prepping a sermon on the life of Joseph (for the Suffering sermon series). I have recently read through the Testament of Joseph—an extra-biblical ancient Jewish text in which the patriarch Joseph recounts his life. It is not recognized as Scripture in Judaism or most Christian traditions, so its value is considered instructive rather than authoritative. Nevertheless, there were a few things that I found interesting about the account that —if true—would provide an even greater encouragement to us.
Joseph’s early days in Egypt
When Joseph was bought as a slave, God gave him favor in the eyes of the merchant. He was kept in the merchant’s home for 3 months and 5 days—and the household flourished during that time because of Joseph.
Potiphar was "chief of the eunuchs”—although not a eunuch himself, and was the third most powerful man in Egypt. He had many wives, children and concubines. His most famous wife—referred to throughout the account as "the Egyptian woman", or "the Memphian woman," had heard that the merchant had stolen a young man from Canaan (which was illegal at the time). She first laid eyes on Joseph while he was in the merchant's home. She convinced her husband to bring “human-trafficking” charges against the merchant.
Potiphar's wife then purchases Joseph as a servant in hopes that her house would be blessed by Joseph’s presence as the merchant's had been. She sends her eunuchs to buy him with 100 pieces of gold, but they haggle a bit and end up buying him for only 80...and pocket the rest. Joseph knows about this, but chooses to say nothing so that the eunuchs would not be punished.
Joseph in Potiphar’s Home
Throughout Joseph’s entire time as a servant and eventually a prisoner, he maintains the story that had been told by his brothers—that he is merely a slave. He does this in order to not put his brothers to shame. If the truth had come out, an investigation would have ensued and his brothers would most certainly have been punished and perhaps even executed. In other words it is possible that Joseph could have ended his suffering in Egypt and been returned to his father, if he was willing to rat on his brothers!
"My children you see what great things I endured that I should not put my brothers to shame. Do you also love one another, and with patience hide one another's faults?"
Joseph was a servant in Potiphar's house for 7 years. Throughout that time, Potiphar's wife continually and persistently tried to seduce him. Her tempting was not a one-time event. She tried many tactics:
At first, she pretended to love him like a son, just to get close to him.
"At first, because she had no male child, she feigned to count me as a son."
She bribed him.
“She said to me, 'You will be lord of me, and all that is mine, if you will give yourself unto me, and you will be as our master’...She departed, soothing me with gifts, and sending to me every delight of the sons of men.”
She tried to get him drunk:
"If one gave me wine, I drank it not."
She promised to cover their tracks.
She convinced her husband that Joseph was so chaste/pure that even if their adultery would be found out...and reported to her husband...he would not believe it.
"Do not be afraid of my husband; for he is convinced you are chaste, so that even should one tell him concerning us, he would never believe him."
She feigned willingness to convert (and to convert her husband):
"If you want me to abandon my idols, just tell me, and I will persuade my husband to depart from his idols, and we will walk in the law of your Lord."
She threatened suicide:
"I will hang myself, or cast myself into a well or over a cliff, if you will not consent to me."
She used to flash him:
"For when I was in her house she used to bare her arms, breasts, and legs, so I might fall before her; for she was very beautiful."
She tried to drug him:
"She sent me food sprinkled with enchantments."
She threatened to kill her husband, so that she could legally marry Joseph.
"If you will not commit adultery, I will kill my husband, and so can I lawfully take you to be my husband."
She threatened to have him killed:
"How often did the Egyptian threaten me with death! How often did she give me over to punishment, and then call me back, and threaten me when I would not company with her!"
To end the constant assaults, Joseph prayed and fasted continually. He even prayed that God would provide her with a male child, and He did. Her advances were constant and so was his resistance. The account says that her endless pursuit of Joseph was inspired by Satan (probably because Satan knew that Joseph was being set up as a deliverer of God's people...and wanted to thwart God's plan).
"I saw that the spirit of Belial (Satan) was troubling her..."
The pursuit was so endless and tormenting to Joseph that he considered prison to be a final answer to his prayers! It was a relief—Deliverance from the wicked woman!
"I sang praises unto the Lord while I was in the abode of darkness, and with glad voice rejoiced and glorified my God only because by a pretext I had been rid of the Egyptian woman."
Joseph and His Brothers
Throughout his life, Joseph never tried to avenge the sin of his brothers, but in his heart resolved to forgive them, and show them nothing but love.
"For I did not allow them to be afflicted even to the smallest matter; and all that was in my hand I gave to them. Their children were my children, and my children were as their servants. Their life was my life, all their suffering was my suffering, and all their sickness was my infirmity. My land was their land, my counsel their counsel, and I did not exalt myself among them in arrogance because of my worldly glory, but I was among them as one of the least."