Genesis 39:1-6 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian… This cannot mean that Joseph was entirely happy, or that he had everything he wanted. It means that he prayed to God, and knew that God heard his prayers; it means that he felt that God was good to him and was helping him gain the favour of his master; it means that he was certain that by and by he would be delivered in some way; it means that he was able to bear his troubles and to make the best of them; it means that he was getting along well. Read the text again. It doesn't say, the Lord was with Joseph because he was a prosperous man; but, the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. 1. It was because of Joseph's simplicity. By this I do not mean that he was foolish. I mean that he was just what he seemed to be, and seemed to be just what he was. He didn't deceive folks. He had no small, mean ways. Perhaps you may say that he would have escaped the trouble that was coming if he had not had this simplicity; but he did not need to escape it; it was far better that it should come. It is best to do right, no matter what comes. Joseph's trouble did not hurt him, it did him good; and all the trouble that will ever come to you from doing right will be a blessing to you. 2. God was with Joseph, and he was prosperous, because of his obedience. When Jacob's sons had been away from home some time, their father began to be anxious. I can't make you understand the full meaning of this word anxious; but when you are men and women and have children of your own, you will know without being told. Well, Jacob was anxious about his sons; he was afraid something had happened to them, and wanted to hear from them. In those days, and in that part of the world, there was no mail, and people usually travelled from place to place in large companies called caravans. This is the way they travelled then, and the way they travel now. But there was no caravan going where his sons were, and so Jacob wanted some person to go alone, and there was no one who was so trustworthy and so fearless, who would go and come so quickly, and do his errand so well, as Joseph. So his father said to him: "Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come and I will send thee unto them." And Joseph answered promptly: "Here am I"; which means, I am ready to go; send me. And his father sent him. Now Joseph's obedience is shown here, not merely in his saying, "Here am I," nor in his starting off at once, but in his going, and going until he found them. Many boys and girls say, "I will go," and some actually start, but that is all they do. They find a difficulty and come back, saying, "I can't"; or they are drawn away by bad company; or for some other reason they give it up. But see how Joseph did. When he came to Shechem, where his brothers had been, they were not there, but while he was searching for them he came across a man who told him they had gone to Dothan, fourteen miles farther. Many a lad of seventeen hearing this would have gone back, for Joseph was nearly ninety miles from home, alone, and in a dangerous country. But this was not Joseph's way. His father had sent him to find his brothers, and he was determined to do it, no matter if it did take him fourteen miles farther than he thought they were, and more than a hundred miles from the tents of Jacob in Hebron. This is obedience that is obedience, to do what you are told to, to face dangers, to overcome difficulties. I want these children to do what they are told to, whatever it costs. It cost Joseph his liberty and almost his life, but it was the foundation of all his future greatness; it was worth more than liberty or life; it was worth ten thousand times more than the coat of many colours, or his father's favouritism, or the throne of Egypt. Obedience taught Joseph how to command, and no one knows how to command who has not learned first how to obey. 3. God was with Joseph, and he was prosperous because of his moral courage. I suppose you know the meaning of courage. It is bravery, fearlessness. A boy who leaps overboard to save a drowning companion is courageous; so is a man who rushes into a burning building to save persons from being burned. This is courage. But what is moral courage? It is that which makes one do right when people will blame him, or laugh at him, or try to injure him for doing so. It is easier for many to be knocked down than to be laughed at or blamed. I don't know that Joseph ever struck a blow in his life; and we do know that when his brothers sold him he cried very hard, and begged them not to do it; for afterwards they said one to another: "We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us and we would not hear." But his moral courage was shown by the way he behaved in adversity. He dared to do right wherever he was. No matter how wicked those about him were, he would not do a wrong thing. Nor is this all; he gave his reasons. He said, "How, then, can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" And then he kept away from temptation. But Joseph showed moral courage in still another way. When he was accused falsely and punished, he did not try to save himself by exposing his accuser. He said to himself: "I will suffer rather than ruin the reputation of this woman; may be she will repent"; and what was still better, he chose to go to prison rather than remain in temptation. 4. And another reason for Joseph's prosperity was his patience. To be patient is to bear quietly any evil, such as pain, toil, affliction. Joseph's affliction lasted about thirteen years. All this time he was a slave, and part of it — two years certainly — he was a prisoner. This was a long time, but he made it seem shorter by always trying to deserve something better. 5. Another reason for Joseph's prosperity was his spirit of forgiveness. It is said of the North American Indians that they never forget an injury and never forget a kindness; this may be well for a heathen savage, but it will not do for a Christian child. Christ said, forgive your enemies. 6. Once more, God was with Joseph and he was prosperous because of his trust in God. Joseph trusted in God when he was a boy, when he went away from home, and when he was sold to the Ishmaelites, when he was in the prison, and when he was on the throne. It was this that sustained him in his trials, that kept him in temptation, and that made him a wise and virtuous ruler. (E. N. Pomeroy.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. |
    |