When Temptation Comes in Like a Flood
Let me review briefly where we have been and where we are going. We are doing a series of four biographical sermons on the life of Joseph. Last Sunday our topic was “When Parents Play Favorites” from Genesis 37. We saw the dreadful results of dysfunction in Joseph’s birth family and urged all of us to renounce favoritism and to break the cycle of dysfunction in our homes. Today we move to Genesis 39 and the topic, “When Temptation Comes in Like a Flood.”
I read of a wife who went to lunch with eleven other women, all of whom were taking a French course together since their children were in school. One rather bold type blurted out, “Well, how many of you have been faithful to your husbands throughout your marriage?” Only one of the dozen women raised her hand. That evening the wife related the incident to her husband and admitted she was not the one who had raised her hand. Her husband was shocked and devastated. “But,” she quickly assured him, “I have been faithful to you.” “Then why didn’t you raise your hand?” he asked. She responded, “I was embarrassed.”
Friends, that’s a true story. It demonstrates how absolutely messed up our society has become when someone feels embarrassed because she has not been unfaithful. A call for fidelity in our culture seems like a solitary voice crying out in the sexual wilderness. What was once labeled adultery and carried a stigma of guilt is now referred to as “an affair”–a nice-sounding, almost inviting word wrapped in mystery, fascination, and excitement. It’s a relationship, we are told, not sin.
I will not spend my time this morning citing statistics to prove how far our culture has fallen into immorality, because any thinking Christian knows that the cesspool is overflowing. From daytime soaps to prime time sitcoms to Emmy-award winning dramas, somebody is invariably getting in or out of bed with someone other than his or her spouse. Some prominent psychologists are actually calling adultery “healthy.”
It’s of little value, however, for us to moan and groan about the awful moral deterioration in the secular culture while ignoring the slide in moral standards in the church. The Apostle Peter wrote (1 Peter 4:17), “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” If you think immorality isn’t a problem in the church today, you’re hiding your head in the sand. In the 45 years I have served as a pastor, I have done more counseling in regard to sexual sin than for heresy, grief, conflict, and depression combined. Those involved have ranged from ushers to elders, from salesmen to engineers, from housewives to business executives, from choir members to pastors, from missionaries to denominational leaders.
The first thing I want to make clear is that this is a sermon for all of us. It’s obviously relevant for those who have sinned in this manner or those who are undergoing severe temptation right now. It’s terribly relevant for career singles and teens, who find themselves in a far more sex-saturated atmosphere than many of us experienced growing up. It’s also relevant for the elderly. Statistics indicate that living together outside of marriage is growing at a faster rate among those over 65, particularly among widows and widowers, than in any other segment of society, in part because of attempts to beat the Social Security system.
Our topic today is even relevant for those who have not sinned sexually and are self-righteous enough to think it could never happen to them. First Corinthians 10:12 says, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.” So please don’t tune me out, even though this is not the most pleasant topic for a Sunday morning worship service. If by addressing this subject today I can prevent even one person from going down the tubes or one marriage from going on the rocks, or if I can give hope to one person who is facing overwhelming temptation, it will have been worthwhile.
We know what the Scriptures teach, don’t we? The Seventh Commandment says, “You shall not commit adultery.” Hebrews 13:4 adds, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” And 1 Cor. 6:18-20 extends the prohibition against sexual sin to those not yet married, as it says,
“Flee from sexual immorality (fornication). All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
But sometimes we can learn more from the real-life examples of Scripture than from heavily doctrinal passages, because the truth is clothed in flesh and blood. So we turn our attention to Joseph, the 11th son of Jacob, who at the tender age of 17 was sold into slavery by his own brothers and became a household slave of a high government official in Egypt. Again we will read the entire chapter.
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
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!”
But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
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. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. This is the Word of the Lord.
The first thing we see in this chapter is that . . .
Joseph enjoys success and prosperity explainable only by divine providence. (1-6)
What an incredible story we find here at the beginning of chapter 39! In a relatively short time Joseph goes from being a slave purchased on the auction block, to personal attendant to Potiphar, to trustee in charge of his household, to caretaker of everything he owned. We are inclined to speculate that he must have had tremendous skill, energy, ambition, and integrity, but the text focuses on only one factor in explaining Joseph’s prosperity: The Lord was with him. That is mentioned in verse 2, verse 3, verse 5, and again verses 21 and 23.
Now I don’t doubt in the least that he had skill and energy and ambition and integrity; in fact, the rest of his story makes it clear that he possessed those characteristics in abundance. That’s going to be our topic next week. But none of these factors, or even all of them put together, can explain Joseph’s meteoric rise to success; only God’s blessing can fully explain it.
With a measure of success often comes a greater measure of temptation. Thus we shouldn’t be surprised to read that . . .
Joseph experiences temptation that is powerful, persistent, and sudden. (6-15)
Think with me for a moment about the seduction described in our passage. What makes it such a powerful temptation? I think one factor is that Joseph has nearly every worldly rationalization at his disposal to indulge. Let me mention a few possible excuses that could have crossed his mind:
1. God allowed me to be sold into slavery. What do I owe Him?
2. I have been separated from my family and friends for years. Who would find out?
3. I have been forced to adapt to a new culture which is thoroughly pagan. “Everybody’s doing it, so why shouldn’t I?”
4. I didn’t go looking for trouble; it found me! (That is true, but God holds us responsible, not only for the sin we seek out, but also for that which we fall into).
5. Furthermore, Joseph has natural good looks, for he is the son of the beautiful Rachel. He could have said, “God, you made me irresistible.” You know, there are some for whom beauty can actually be a curse, especially if Christ is not been made Lord of that area of life.
6. It is quite possible that Potiphar’s wife isn’t finding satisfaction in her marriage. The first verse says that Potiphar is one of Pharaoh’s “officials.” The Hebrew word literally means “eunuchs.” Many of the male palace employees were required to be eunuchs in order to protect the king’s harem. If that is the case with Potiphar, his wife might well have some unfulfilled personal needs. Joseph could rationalize he is only trying to minister to her.
7. Finally, there are no observers. Verse 11 makes it clear there is no one else in the house, probably because Potiphar’s wife has purposely arranged it that way. Surely she won’t tell.
You think this wasn’t a powerful temptation? Don’t kid yourself. But please note that this temptation is also both persistent and sudden. Look at v. 10: “She spoke to Joseph day after day.” That’s persistent temptation. But in v. 11 it adds, “One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!” That’s sudden temptation. Some people, especially those who are impulsive, find sudden temptation to be particularly difficult to resist. Others can resist the sudden overwhelming temptation but tend to get worn down over time when it comes at them like a dripping faucet. Joseph faced both.
But he refuses to yield. The text says he “left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” How do you explain such resistance? It is impossible to explain as merely the exercise of a strong will. Joseph is no embalmed mummy, no plaster-of-Paris saint lacking red blood cells in his veins. I think the key has to be found in four facts: Joseph has a proper view of sin, a proper view of God, a proper view of others, and a proper view of himself.
Joseph is able to resist temptation due to four godly perspectives: (9-12)
1. First, he has a proper view of sin. (9) In v. 9 he asks Potiphar’s wife, “How could I do such a wicked thing?” He calls it what it is. Sin is still sin, even when it’s called something else.
In June of 2007 President Bush nominated as Surgeon General, Dr. James Holsinger, who immediately ran into major opposition from the gay and lesbian lobby. Sixteen years earlier this eminent physician had stated that homosexual acts are “unnatural.” He didn’t even call them “immoral,” mind you, just “unnatural.” And for that major failure in political correctness, he was tarred and feathered as a “homophobe,” and thus judged incompetent by the majority of the United States Senate to be the country’s Surgeon General.
Strong forces in our culture are not satisfied today just to have sinful behavior declared legal; they want it declared “natural” even when God’s Word says it is “unnatural,” as it clearly does homosexual behavior in Romans 1:26-27. The same thing, of course, happened long ago in respect to heterosexual promiscuity. The notion that it can be sinful to do what your body urges you to do seems to be lost on this generation.
The prophet Isaiah speaks loudly to our culture as well as his own when he says,
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)
Frankly, I think we’re seeing a lot of that today. It’s one thing to do evil and then try to find rationalizations for it. It’s far worse to do evil and yet call it good. Joseph refuses to do either. He has a proper view of sin. Second, . . .
2. He has a proper view of God. (9) Joseph says to Potiphar’s wife in verse 9, “How could I do such a wicked thing, and sin against God?” Here I am reminded of King David, who came clean regarding his sin with Bathsheba in Psalm 51 by admitting to God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” On the surface it seems ludicrous for David to say he sinned only against God. He certainly sinned against Uriah–he had him murdered! He sinned against Bathsheba by destroying her marriage. He sinned against the child that was born to her and who died in infancy because of David’s sin. He sinned against his own family. And he sinned against the nation. But clearly what he means is that sin is ultimately against God, and that aspect of guilt is so much greater than any other that the others pale in comparison.
A dramatist has told the story of Joseph’s temptation, and in one particularly profound scene he shows Potiphar’s wife preparing her bedroom and herself for the seduction. In the process she places a robe over the head of her Egyptian god and says to Joseph, “He will not see.” “But,” says Joseph, “my God always sees.” She wouldn’t think of committing this act in front of her husband, but she has no fear of her gods so long as their heads are covered. Joseph’s God is different; He sees everything, and Joseph thus fears Him. Third, . . .
3. Joseph has a proper view of others. (8-9) Look again at verses 8 & 9. Joseph goes on to protest to Potiphar’s wife, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.” Joseph knows the meaning of loyalty.
Someone has said that adultery is of the devil, if for no other reason, because it is the betrayal of an oath and the breach of a trust. But, of course, it is heinous for many other reasons as well. Joseph is struck by the terrible act of treachery toward Potiphar that yielding would involve. And finally, . . .
4. Joseph has a proper view of himself. (12) He knows his limitations. Verse 12 says that when she caught him by the garment saying, “Lie with me!” he left his garment in her hand and fled. He didn’t try to argue with her; he didn’t try to preach at her; he didn’t try to fight the temptation. He just got out of there! And his choice to flee from temptation is vindicated several times in the NT. We’ve already read 1 Cor. 6 where the command is given to “Flee from sexual immorality.” Paul sends the same message to his young protege Timothy, “Flee the evil desires of youth.” Joseph no doubt knows the possible consequences of leaving his coat behind in her hands, but he also knows the greater danger of going back to get it. He values a good coat less than a good conscience. He values everything less than a good conscience.
I wish I could tell you that Joseph’s stand enables him to live happily ever after. But it doesn’t quite work out that way. In a 1697 play William Congreve has one of the actors speak what has become an accepted truism, “Heav’n has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned!” This passage is a case in point.
Joseph pays a heavy price for refusing to yield, but God remembers him. (13-23)
Potiphar’s wife turns on him and falsely accuses him. Her husband believes her, or pretends to, and Joseph is remanded to the place where the king’s prisoners are kept. This isn’t Club Gitmo, friends. It is not a prison fit for a king. It’s a dungeon where those whom the king wishes to teach a harsh lesson suffer greatly.
Prison of any kind is an awful price to pay for purity. But is it too high? The Psalmist writes, “I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” His point was, “I’d rather be a nobody in a good place than to be a real somebody in a bad place.” Heb. 11:24-26, speaking of another man of God, says,
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.”
Sin is pleasurable, friends, no doubt about it. But the pleasures are not permanent; the consequence of yielding, unfortunately, can be.
Thankfully God doesn’t abandon Joseph there to rot in prison. Test him? Yes. Abandon him? No. In the last three verses of the chapter we read,
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. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
Did Joseph know in advance that God would reward him this way, and later even rescue him from prison, and still later, as we will see next week, elevate him to Prime Minister of Egypt? No, I’m sure he did not. But did He know God is trustworthy? Yes, he knew that. He believed that. He was willing to bet everything on that.
We have talked today about the problem of sexual sin, which is attacking the Christian home with unprecedented force today. In these closing moments I want to turn our attention away from the story of Joseph and toward ourselves by asking three important questions.
Three questions to ponder:
1. What should you do if you have been guilty of sexual sin? First, recognize that sins of sexual immorality are sins which God can and does forgive. While these sins often have more severe consequences than other sins, they are not any more sinful. And as with any sin, the solution is to confess it, repent of it, and accept God’s forgiveness. Confession, by the way, literally means to say the same thing about your sin that God says about it (1 John 1:9). And He says it is inexcusable.
Repentance, of course, is more than just admitting, “I did it.” It is a mental and spiritual state which acknowledges an act, accepts the seriousness of it, experiences sorrow over it, rejects all excuses for it, and purposes to stop it. I think especially in the case of sexual sin we must recognize the danger of repeated failure. I’ve talked to individuals who have said, “Well, I’m already an adulterer. I can’t be any worse than an adulterer, so what does it matter if I do it again?” Well, friends, it does matter. It matters a great deal! Sexual sin has a cumulative effect on the soul. It reminds me of carbon monoxide poisoning. It accumulates in your system, and eventually even a non-lethal dose can kill you. The only way to deal with these kinds of sin is immediately, radically, and permanently.
But accepting God’s forgiveness is also an indispensable step in the process. Listen to Psalm 103:8-12:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Consider also Isaiah 55:6-7:
Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
God loves you with unconditional love. He gave His one and only Son to save you from your sin. He will never abandon you. And once you have accepted His forgiveness, forgive yourself. Release it. Enjoy the freedom for which Christ set you free.
2. What should you do if you are a victim of sexual sin? You must be willing to forgive. “But you don’t understand, Pastor. That decision by my spouse was a breach of faith so traumatic I will never be able to forgive. And didn’t Jesus allow for divorce in the case of adultery?” In two weeks I plan to preach a message entitled, “Forgiving the Hard to Forgive.” It’s about Joseph’s decision to forgive the brothers who sold him into slavery. I suspect every one of us has someone in our life who is exceptionally hard to forgive, and if you have been the victim of adultery, you are certainly in that category. I don’t ask you to forgive one who hurt you because they deserve it. Forgiveness is never based on deserts. I ask you to forgive because God asks you to forgive. And it’s the only way you’re going to find freedom.
Here’s a question you must wrestle with: “How much has God forgiven me? Was this sin done against me worse than all the sins I have ever committed put together? And has God forgiven me of all my sins?” One of the most difficult sayings Jesus ever uttered was this: “For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matt. 6:14-15)
Yes, I believe Jesus allowed for divorce when there is persistent, unrepentant immorality, but even then He didn’t encourage it. He is glorified most when there is repentance, forgiveness, and restoration.
One more question:
3. What should you do if you are facing severe temptation? I think it is not only likely, but almost certain, that some in this audience are there right now. Friend, don’t dally with it. The person who plays with temptation will inevitably get burned. Did you notice the word which appears in both Gen. 39 and I Cor. 6? “Flee.” That’s not a very courageous response to temptation, is it? But it’s smart!
Would you rather be a hero or be holy? I fear that many Christians today, if caught in Potiphar’s home with Potiphar’s wife and the identical set of circumstances would have a far different reaction than Joseph. With no intention to go all the way with her, of course, many would see this as a good opportunity to flirt a little, check out the scenery, store up a few fantasies for future use. And that’s the very reason Joseph escaped unscathed while many today are watching their families crumble before their eyes.
Of course, not every case of immorality begins in such a sinister fashion as Joseph’s. Charles Mylander describes a fairly typical beginning for a modern affair:
An unwary Christian often becomes vulnerable because the tender talk with his or her spouse is missing. . . The finances pose trouble, and the only communication is a fight. . . Then, one of them begins confiding in an employee or neighbor of the opposite sex. This person, perhaps divorced or hurting in his or her own marriage, listens intently and seems to care.
Nothing in the conversation seems to hint at any immoral activity. Each feels it’s innocent, harmless, and even helpful to the other. Tender talk about real feelings, and often about marriage problems, is going on outside of marriage rather than within it. The light turns amber.
Before long, “innocent” touching begins taking place. If she is his secretary, he puts a hand on her shoulder while giving instructions. If she is a friend, there’s a social embrace, a warm pat, a friendly nudge.
Both would insist nothing is wrong with the limited physical contact between them because it’s not related to sex. They are good friends and no more, or so they tell themselves. Each, however, is aware of the other’s genuine admiration and acceptance. The light is changing from amber to red.
During this stage, the couple begins spending more time together. At first, they just happen to work on the same projects or they end up at the same events. It feels good to be together. But before long, the two are making excuses to spend more time with each other. Lunch or dinner, little gifts, and private times with each other soon become the norm. By now both know they have much more than a casual friendship. But they rationalize that it’s not adultery because, after all, they are not sleeping together. A solid red light is glowing.
Once emotional delight is coming from outside the marriage, the danger is intense. The man suddenly realizes he is in love with this other woman, although he tells himself he also cares for his wife. The woman knows she is in love with this other man and often feels she’s made a mistake about the man she did marry. No more warning lights–it’s too late to flee.
If you think this is a far-fetched tale found only in romance novels, you definitely aren’t in tune with reality. It’s all around us and we must be wary.
Conclusion. May I take you back to the fact that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, a Holy of Holies, a sanctuary. Let me ask you to compare your treatment of the sanctuary which is your body with your treatment of the space in which we are worshiping today. Most of us have a certain respect for what is often called the “sanctuary” in a church building. We talk a little more quietly in here; we wouldn’t run down the aisles; I don’t know anyone who would smoke or swear in this room. And yet the Scriptures nowhere state that there’s anything sacred about the room where a church meets. In fact, Acts 17:24 says that the Lord “dwells not in temples made with hands.” But the Scriptures do tell us that the physical body of the believer is sacred and that the Holy Spirit doesindwell us. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1-2) Some of us need to improve the maintenance on our temples. If we will keep them pure and holy, the Holy Spirit can continue to dwell in them with power and glory.
John Wesley, perhaps the greatest preacher of 18th century England, once prayed, “God, give me 100 men who hate nothing but sin and fear no one but God, and I will take England for the Gospel.” Joseph reminds me of the kind of man Wesley prayed for. He hated nothing but sin and feared no one but God. May his tribe increase!
Tags:
Temptation
Adultery
Fornication
Excuses
Resistance (to temptation)