Gen 39:6 Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. Potiphar was
Joseph's boss and God had given Joseph awesome favor with his boss.
Potiphar's wife had also noticed Joseph in particular his looks and
body. The Bible says in Gen.39:7 that she cast longing eyes on
Joseph. Whenever she see Joseph she would allow her eyes to gaze on
his physique. Everything she found physically appealing about a man
she found in Joseph and day after day she observed this until finally
her observation created a lustful desire to have sex with him and
commit adultery. The first time she approached Joseph, he explained
to her that he could not do that and he gave two reasons. The first
reason was he could not betray his boss's confidence. I think he
thought that if he said that to her, her loyalty to her husband would
cause her to realize what she wanted to do would not be right. But
her gazing on Joseph's physical appeal had created a lust that over
powered any loyalty and commitment she had to her husband. The other
reason he gave her that I believe controlled Joseph's decision to not
succumb to her appeal for a sexual encounter is his God would view it
as wickedness. Joseph had a love for God that would not permit him to
engage in evil and this love was developed to the point that it
controlled his actions
Potiphar's wife however was an extremely lustful and determined woman
and she had fed her lust by a continual gaze on the object of her lust
Joseph and so one no from Joseph did not stop her. She wanted him
desperately and so she continued to pursue him day after day, after
day. He continued to turn her down and that made her want him more.
One day she found Joseph in an unguarded and unprotected situation.
Gen. 39: 11-12 says: "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, 12. that she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie
with me.'' Filled with burning passion and desire for this single man
she took full advantage of the fact that he had permitted himself to
be alone with her and she grabbed him asking once again for him to
have sex with her. Joseph recognized that reasoning with this woman
and telling her no was not going to work in this situation. They had
made body to body contact and he knew the only way out of this
situation so he did not succumb to her pass was to run. Joseph was a
strong man and he loved Jesus, but he knew his limitations. Her out
of control flesh was passionately pressing against his body crying out
for sex and to keep from giving in he ran. Being not only a lustful
and seductive woman, she was also vindictive and realized that if she
could not have him, she was going to make him pay. So she falsely
accused him of raping her and had him thrown in jail. Joseph
suffered immensely for saying no, but he knew there was suffering
greater than being in prison falsely accused and that was sinning
against almighty God by committing adultery. Once again this action
proved Joseph hated sin and loved righteousness.
Let us now dissect from this story the relevancy for today's single adult.
v Prolonged gazing at physical attributes of attractive men or
women can create lustful desires. I did not say you could not
appreciate the beauty or physique God has blessed a person with. I do
it. But to gaze on it for prolonged periods of time is deadly.
v You can not reason with a seductive women. You cannot engage in
what you believe are platonic friendships with seductive women. Don't
fool yourself into believing you can handle her. Her motivation and
her determined will is to lead you into sexual immorality. She may
just want you for sex, but she may also want you for money, power,
control or destruction.
v Wisdom dictates that a man or woman should never permit
themselves to be in situations where they are alone with the opposite
spouse of a person who has an obvious lustful attraction to you. More
well-meaning Christians have fallen into sexual sin because of this.
The reason Potiphar's wife was able to come on to Joseph so strong and
have flesh to flesh contact was because Joseph permitted himself to be
in a situation where he was alone with her. She was probably waiting
for this moment and had planned what she would do when it happen. She
knew if she could get Joseph to feel her passionate flesh pressing
against his she could have him. Joseph knew that his will power was
no match for her passionate flesh and Joseph ran. When you have
intimate contact with someone of the opposite sex and it is obvious
that sexual stimulation is occurring in one or both people, that is
not the time to pray, take authority over the devil or speak the Word,
the only way to win out over that temptation is to run! Joseph had to
do it to remain sexually pure and so will you. The best way to
prevent yourself from having this situation to address is not to put
yourself in the situation to begin with.
I have established a ground rule. I will not permit myself to spend
excessive time alone with women. You may be asking why, don't you
trust yourself ? And my response to you is the scripture admonishes
us to give no place to the devil and shun the very appearance of evil.
Keeping company with the opposite sex for prolonged periods of time in
your home alone has the potential of opening the door for the devil
(Ephesians 4:27) and giving the appearance of evil. (1 Thessalonians
5:22) Your desire to want to obey these admonishments has a lot to do
with the love you have for the Lord, because if you love Him you will
keep his commandments.
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