Potiphar’s wife was attracted to Joseph. After her husband had gone abroad she made her feelings known to him.
‘Come and lie with me,’ she said. Joseph refused. ‘How could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?’ he said. Day after day she kept asking him to lie with her but Joseph refused. He told her, ‘Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house and he has put everything that he has in my hand. He has not kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife.’ Joseph was fearful lest he offended God so he continually refused Potiphar’s wife. She was greatly offended because she could not persuade Joseph to lie with her, so she called together all her household servants and said, ‘See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice, and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment with me and fled outside.’ Genesis 39:14-15] This was a cruel lie for she, not Joseph, wanted to lie with him. Lies cause trouble for innocent people. To lie is to speak falsely. She knew that Joseph would be punished severely when she told her husband. POTIPHAR’S RETURN When Potiphar returned home he found his household very disturbed, His wife repeated her lies to her husband. ‘This is the way your servant treated me,’ she said. Potiphar was furious. He believed his wife for why would she tell lies? So he took Joseph and put him in prison. Joseph’s neck was put in a collar of iron. His feet were hurt with fetters. [Psalm 105:18] God knew the truth for God who made the ear can hear everything and God, who made the eye can see everything that we do. So He knew that Joseph was innocent. He know our hearts and our actions. This is not the end of our story. Next we shall learn how Joseph behaved in prison. Joseph remembered his dreams. These were a comfort to him for in his dreams God made him a person of high regard and trust. |