Genesis 39:1-6

And Joseph was brought down to Egypt

The prosperity of Joseph in the house of his first master

I. ITS EXTRAORDINARY NATURE. Cast off by his own brethren, he rises amongst strangers to dignity and honour.

II. ITS BASIS AND SECURITY.

1. His own bearing and conduct.

2. The favour of God.

III. ITS LESSONS.

1. That God’s blessings and grace are with His people everywhere, and under the severest trials.

2. That God’s blessing and grace are manifest to Others (Genesis 39:3).

3. That God blesses others for the sake of His people (Genesis 39:5).

4. That God is still working out His designs, even when they seem to fail. (T. H. Leale.)

Lessons from Joseph in captivity

1. We have all our captivities at some time or other in our experience. The essence of Joseph’s trial here was that he was taken whither he had no wish to go, and was prevented from going back again to the home in which his father was sitting mourning for his loss. But is not interference with our comfort or our liberty still the bitter element in all our afflictions? Take bodily illness, for example, and when you get at the root of the discomfort of it, you find it in the union of these two things: you are where you do not want to be--where you would never have thought of putting yourself--and you are held there, whether you will or not, by a Power that is stronger than your own. No external force constrains you, no fetters are on your limbs, yet you are held where you are against your own liking, and you do not relish the situation--you are a captive. But the same thing comes out in almost every sort of trial. You are, let me suppose, in business perplexity. But that is not of your own choosing; if you could have managed it, you would have been in quite different circumstances. Yet, in spite of you, things have gone against you. Men whom you had implicitly trusted, and whom you would have had no more thought of doubting than you would think now of doubting your mother’s love, have proved deceitful; or the course of trade has gone against you, and you are brought to a stand. You have been carried away perhaps by brothers, perhaps by Ishmaelites--for the race is not yet extinct--from the Canaan of comfort to the Egypt captivity, and you are now in helpless perplexity. It may be standing, not like Joseph, in the slave-pen, but in the market place of labour, and condemned to do nothing, because “no man hath hired” you. Ah! there are many, too many always, in a largo city like this who are in just such circumstances. What then? Let them learn from Joseph here that the first thing to do in a captivity is to acquiesce in it as the will of God concerning them.

2. But then, in the second place, we must learn from Joseph to make the best of our remaining opportunities in our captivity. If he was to be a slave, Joseph was determined he would be the best of slaves, and what he was required to do he would do with his might and with his heart. This is a most important consideration, and it may, perhaps, help to explain why similar trials have had such different results in different persons. One has been bemoaning that it is not with him as it used to be, while the other has discovered that some talents have been still left him, and he has set to work with these. One has been saying, “If I had only the resources which I once possessed I could do something; but now they have gone, I am helpless.” But the other has been soliloquizing thus: “If I can do nothing else I can at least do this, little as it is; and if I put it into the hand of Christ, He can make it great”; and so we account for the unhappiness and uselessness of the one, and for the happiness and usefulness of the other. Nor will it do to say that this difference is a mere thing of temperament. It is a thing of character. The one acts in faith, recognizing God’s hand in his affliction, the other acts in unbelief, seeing nothing but his own calamity, and that only increases his affliction. So we come to this: keep fast hold of God’s hand in your captivity, and do your best in that which is open to you. That will ultimately bring you out of it; but if you lose that you will lose everything. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Joseph a slave

I. THAT A GOOD MAN IN CAPTIVITY CAN ENJOY GOD’S PRESENCE.

II. THAT A GOOD MAN IN BONDAGE CAN SHOW FORTH GOD’S GLORY.

III. THAT A GOOD MAN IN SLAVERY CAN DEVELOP THE HUMANITY OF OTHERS.

IV. THAT A GOOD MAN IN BONDAGE MAY BE TRUSTED.

V. THAT A GOOD MAN IS A GREAT BLESSING WHEREVER HE MAY BE FOUND. (Homilist.)

Trying days

Notice some of the points brought out in this trying portion of Joseph’s history.

1. The fact of having parted with the restraints and wholesome influences of home.

2. Joseph’s new position also placed him among strangers.

3. Joseph’s lot was also that of inexperience surrounded with the numerous and glaring temptations of a great city.

4. How Joseph’s new lot subjected his religious principles to the test. (J. Leyburn, D. D.)

The trustworthy servant

I. JOSEPH’S FAITHFULNESS TO HIS MASTER.

II. JOSEPH’S FAITHFULNESS TO HIS GOD.

III. JOSEPH’S SOURCE OF HELP AND GLADNESS. The Lord was with him. CONCLUSION:--What shall we learn from this part of Joseph’s history? That amidst darkness--of sorrow (Joseph exiled); of trial (Joseph tempted); of injustice (Joseph imprisoned)--there always arises light for the faithful and pure of heart. Let us ask God to make us from our earliest years, and in all circumstances, honest, diligent, pure-minded, patient; and let us never lose hold of our trust in God’s help. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)

A kingly slave

Scene, Memphis. Splendid architecture, chased in mimic forms of nature, amid feathery palms waving in the breeze. A red quivering heat, like a baker’s oven, enswathing field and city. On the horizon gigantic pyramids of stone. Nearer to the eye calm, sleepy sphinxes, guarding the entry to palace and to temple. On the margin of the city an open market, with piles of fruit; bales of merchandise; slaves, for the most part, black as ebony; noisy hucksters; groaning camels. Among the Nubian slaves a fair Syrian youth attracts attention; realizes a high price, and passes into the hands of a pompous potentate. To the careless traffickers Joseph was simply a question of gain or loss--more money or less--an item of evanescent interest. But to Joseph it was a question of joy or ruin--a matter of life or death. An awful reversal this from the sunny atmosphere of home I Had God seen all this wrong-doing of men, and had He allowed it so far to succeed? Could it be that God was on the side of righteousness?

I. RELIGION TRANSFORMS A SLAVE INTO A HERO.

1. Outward circumstance is a trivial thing. “An officer of Pharaoh bought him of the Ishmaelites.” It is a frightful degradation to be reduced to a chattel; yet it is only external degradation. But the man need not be degraded. Slavery may give scope for the play of noble principles. Integrity, faithfulness, goodness, piety, love, are untouched, are free to develop.

2. Man’s judgment is often in opposition to God’s.

3. In the darkest night true piety shines the more brightly. Doubtless, Joseph was “cast down,” yet was he “not in despair.” Instead of repining, he kept a brave heart. Here in Potiphar’s mansion is one doing God’s will as angels do it in heaven. There is a noble seraph within this apparent slave.

II. RELIGION BRINGS MEN INTO PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD. “The Lord was with him: the Lord made all that he did to prosper.”

1. A good man is a mystery to onlookers. There is something about him which the world cannot understand. He is patient when others fume and fret. He is buoyant when others are submerged. An unseen Anchor hold his barque, let the storm howl as it may.

2. This superior factor in life is conspicuous. “His master saw that the Lord was with him.” Such diligence, honesty, thoughtfulness, promptitude, were unusual, unconventional, superhuman. Some men have a trick of concealing their religion. Joseph allowed his light naturally to shine out.

3. God is an active Partner in honest work. The source of Joseph’s prosperity is revealed: “The Lord made it to prosper.” A merchant in feeble health once accounted for his successful conduct of a gigantic business by saying that God was his acting Partner. This is the fellowship of the Spirit. A true Christian is man plus God.

III. RELIGION MAKES A MAN A MEDIUM OF BLESSING TO OTHERS. “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.” Potiphar is not even named: Joseph is everything.

1. A good man is the channel of good to others. Here is God’s law of mediation. A man prospers in business through the prayers of a pious servant. A father is raised up from a bed of fever for the sake of a child. A husband is saved from moral wreck by the faith and love of a wife. The God-fearing are the salt of the earth. For Joseph’s sake, the fields of Potiphar are fruitful.

2. Real prosperity embraces all the interests of mankind. “The blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field.” The beneficent effect of religion is commensurate with man. It blesses domestic life, agriculture, commerce, politics, literature. It enhances all human joy; it soothes all human sorrow. It kindles a lamp in the darkness of the grave. It fills the heart with an immortal hope. (J. Dickerson Davies, M. A.)

Joseph in Egypt

Joseph, whose studied silence has unrivalled eloquence, is now in Egypt. New scenes are before him. In the far distant stretches the beauteous valley of the Nile, its fertility unsurpassed. Pyramids, hoary with years, strange mementoes of buried generations, tower towards the transparent firmament. A brief journey has brought him from a region scarcely more than semi-barbarous to one far advanced in civilization. The skilled agriculturist is in the field, the ingenious mechanic at his daily toil. The children have those rare evidences of refined state of society, toys, with which to while away the joyous hours. The judge in his court is administering statutes which even modern society might advantageously re-enact. The priest in the temple is endeavouring to propitiate the gods, and secure blessings for their erring children on earth. A written language, the laborious work of many generations, and which had passed from hieroglyphics to phonetics, meets his eye on cunningly prepared papyrus leaves. A settled religious faith, a complicated system of government, a language bearing evidence of growth through many centuries, a vast empire consolidated upon the wrecks of pre-existing nationalities, great material prosperity accompanied with the knowledge of the physical sciences, of history, of metaphysics, and even of theology; a degree of progress in the fine arts which, though different, still rivals that of the present day--these, as well as their institutions, their laws, and their brilliant achievements, unmistakably testify to the immense antiquity of the empire under whose overshadowing influence Joseph is to pass his days of servitude. Nor is he a solitary bondman among a nation of freemen, but one of a vast number of slaves--slaves from Nubia, from Ethiopia, from Asia, from many surrounding nations, all of which had witnessed, and many of which had submitted to the conquering valour of Egypt’s powerful emperors. (J. S. Van Dyke.)

Lessons

1. Histories of the wicked and righteous are set together by God’s Spirit to abase sin and heighten grace in the Church. So of Judah and Joseph.

2. Providence determining to bring any to greatness, leads them usually first into a low estate. Joseph dreams of dignities, but first meets with slavery.

3. Men-selling, though it be great sin in man, yet is it permitted and ordered by God.

4. God’s choicest ones may be bought and sold by the hands of strangers and enemies.

5. Providence orders the slavery of His own to such men, by whom more fitly they may be preferred.

6. Egypt may be the house of bondage to God’s servants in order to greater freedom (Genesis 39:1). (G. Hughes, B. D.)

Piety in unfavourable places

Joseph’s religion overcame all obstacles because there was real life in it. The other day I slackened my step opposite a garden to notice the crocuses raising their slender heads amid the heavy gravel on the walk. The tender plants, having real life, forced their way through the hard earth and conquered the very stones. So the heavenly plant of Joseph’s piety displayed all its beauty and gave out its sweet odours in the wicked palaces of Potiphar and Pharaoh.

Joseph carried down to Egypt

I. First, then, we will contemplate THE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH JOSEPH WENT DOWN TO EGYPT.

1. It was not by his own choice. This is intimated by the emphatic expression “ he was brought down.” It appears that his brethren became envious of him; and they so indulged this bad feeling of the heart Genesis 37:18). In saying that it is similar to the case of some persons, I do not mean that the same treatment is experienced by them, though unhappily this is the case with many who are torn from their native shores and sold into captivity and bondage against their will; but what I mean is, that their position in life is often fixed for a time without any power on their part to shape their own course. They are governed by the force of circumstances, and find themselves fixed in situations, not because they have chosen it so to be, but because things have tended to that particular position in which they find themselves placed--without their own choice, and without their own control. On the other hand, there is a dissimilarity between the case of Joseph and some others. Time, circumstances, means, are all such that they can, apparently, make their own election, and direct their own pursuits.

2. It was with the prospect of servitude before him. The Midianites bought him to sell him as a slave. That Joseph’s being a servant, distinguished as he was by only being removed two descents from Abraham, and honoured as he was also--as we shall afterwards find--by God himself, has sanctified, as it were, the employment of servitude and made it honourable. It can never be a disgrace to us to be employed as he was, especially if we pursue our calling in the way that he pursued his. And how was that? perhaps some may ask. We answer that he pursued it faithfully. While he served his master he was faithful to the confidence reposed in him. He was an honest man, and this conduct led to his services being viewed by his master with acceptance. But we mark another trait in the character of Joseph; he was attentive to his duties. But there was a principle in Joseph’s conduct that we must not omit to notice--he feared God. In this was the secret of his prosperity. But in further contemplating the circumstances under which Joseph went down to Egypt, we observe that--

3. He was brought down thither really, though not apparently at the time, by God. This Joseph himself acknowledged to his brethren in an interview with them some few years afterwards (Genesis 46:7). Was it God, then, who excited in Joseph’s brethren that feeling of envy which existed in their breasts--the feeling which led them first to resolve on his murder, and then to agree to report to his father that some evil beast had slain him? No; it was not God who was the author of this conduct. The whole of it was sinful; and God is not the author of sin.

II. What are the LESSONS WE LEARN FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCES WE HAVE BEEN CONTEMPLATING?

1. To acknowledge God in all our ways.

2. To confide in God under all circumstances. We can scarcely conceive, humanly speaking, of any circumstances being more dark and mysterious than those in which Joseph was placed. “It was good for me that I was afflicted.” And, eventually, our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, shall work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 2 Corinthians 4:17). On this point, then, I will conclude in the words of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 1:10), “Who is among you thatfeareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.”

3. To repress every bad feeling of the heart.

4. That the providence of God attends those that love Him. But God does not lead all His children to degrees of honour and usefulness equal to those of Joseph. Among His people there are those who may be compared to vessels of gold, and of silver, of wood, and of earth; some to honour and some to dishonour” (2 Timothy 2:20). (W. Blackley, B. A.)

Joseph in Potiphar’s house

The name Potiphar frequently occurs on the monuments of Egypt (written either Pet-Pa-Ra, or Pet-P-Ra), and means: “Dedicated to Ra,” or the sun. According to some writers, “at the time that Joseph was sold into Egypt, the country was not united under the rule of a single native line, but governed by several dynasties, of which the fifteenth dynasty of Shepherd-kings was the predominant one, the rest being tributary to it.” At any rate, he would be carried into that part of Egypt which was always most connected with Palestine. Potiphar’s office at the court of Pharaoh was that of “chief of the executioners,” most probably (as it is rendered in our Authorized Version) captain of the king’s body-guard. In the house of Potiphar it went with Joseph as formerly in his own home. For it is not in the power of circumstances, prosperous or adverse, to alter our characters. He that is faithful in little shall also be faithful in much; and from him who knoweth not how to employ what is committed to his charge, shall be taken even that he hath. Joseph was faithful, honest, upright, and conscientious, because in his earthly, he served a heavenly Master, whose presence he always realized. Accordingly “Jehovah was with him,” and “Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand.” His master was not long in observing this. From an ordinary domestic slave he promoted him to be “overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.” The confidence was not misplaced. Jehovah’s blessing henceforth rested upon Potiphar’s substance, and he “left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not aught that he had, save the bread which he did eat.” The sculptures and paintings of the ancient Egyptian tombs bring vividly before us the daily life and duties of Joseph. “The property of great men is shown to have been managed by scribes, who exercised a most methodical and minute supervision over all the operations of agriculture, gardening, the keeping of live stock, and fishing. Every product was carefully registered, to check the dishonesty of the labourers, who in Egypt have always been famous in this respect. Probably in no country was farming ever more systematic. Joseph’s previous knowledge of tending flocks, and perhaps of husbandry, and his truthful character, exactly fitted him for the post of overseer. How long he filled it we are not told.” (Dr. Edersheim.)

And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man

The secret of prosperity

There are many ways in which the Lord is with a man. Not always by visible symbol; seldom by an external badge which we can see and read. God is with a man in the suggestion of thought; in the animation of high, noble, heavenly feeling; in the direction of his steps; in the direction of his speech, enabling him to give the right look, the right answer at the right time under the right circumstances; giving him the schooling which he could never pay for, training him by methods and processes unknown in human schools, and not to be understood except by those who have passed under them. “If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God.” Ideas are the gifts of God, as well as wheat fields and vineyards and other fruits of the earth. Suggestions in business, delivering thoughts in the time of extremity, silence when it is better than speech, speech when it will do more than silence. “These also come forth from the Lord of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.” The Lord was with Joseph and yet Joseph was under Potiphar. These are the contradictions and anomalies of life which ill-taught souls can never understand, and which become to them mysteries which torment their spirits and which distract their love. Undoubtedly this is an anomalous state of life: Joseph brought down to Egypt by his purchasers--Joseph sold into the house of Potiphar--bought and sold and exchanged like an article of merchandise. Yet, he was a prosperous man! Understand that there are difficulties which cannot impair prosperity, and that there is a prosperity which dominates over all external circumstances and vindicates its claim to be considered a Divine gift. Looking at this case through and through, one would say, it is hardly correct to assert that Joseph was a prosperous man, when he was to all intents and purposes in bondage, when he was the property of another, when not one hour of his time belonged to himself, when he was cut off from his father and from his brethren. Yet, it is distinctly stated that, notwithstanding these things, the Lord was with him and he was a prosperous man. There must be a lesson for some of us here. When men live in their circumstances they never can be prosperous. When a man has to go out into his wheat-field to know whether there is going to be a good crop before ha can really enjoy himself--that man does not know what true joy is. When a man has to read out of a bank-book before he dare take one draught out of the goblet of happiness--that man’s thirst for joy will never be slaked. Man cannot live in wheat-fields and bank-books and the things of the present world. If he cannot live within himself, in the very sanctuary and temple of God, then he is at the sport of every change of circumstance--one shake of the telegraph wire may unsettle him, and the cloudy day may obscure his hopes and darken what little soul he has left. If Joseph had lived in his external circumstances he might have spent his days in tears and his nights in hopelessness; but living a religious life, living with God, walking with God, identifying his very soul’s life with God, then the dust had no sovereignty over him, external circumstances were under his feet. This is the solution of many of our difficulties. Given a man’s relation to God, and you have the key of his whole life. (J. Parker, D. D.)

A miniature portrait of Joseph

Scripture frequently sums up a man’s life in a single sentence. Here is the biography of Joseph sketched by inspiration: “God was with him,” so Stephen testified in his famous speech recorded in Acts 7:9. Observe, however, that the portraits of Scripture give us not only the outer, but the inner life of the man. Man looketh at the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart; and so the Scriptural descriptions of men are not of their visible life alone, but of their spiritual life. Here we have Joseph as God saw him, the real Joseph. Externally it did not always appear that God was with him, for he did not always seem to be a prosperous man; but when you come to look into the inmost soul of this servant of God, you see his true likeness--he lived in communion with the Most High, and God blessed him: “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man.” This striking likeness of Joseph strongly reminds us of our Master and Lord, that greater Joseph, who is Lord over all the world for the sake of Israel. Peter, in his sermon to the household of Cornelius, said of our Lord that He “went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.” Exactly what had been said of Joseph. It is wonderful that the same words should describe both Jesus and Joseph, the perfect Saviour and the imperfect patriarch. This having the Lord with us is the inheritance of all the saints; for what is the apostolic benediction in the Epistles but a desire that the triune God may be with us? To the Church in Rome Paul saith, “Now the God of peace be with you all.” To the Church in Corinth he writes, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” To the Thessalonians he saith, “The Lord be with you all.” Did not our glorious Lord say, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world”?

I. First, we will run over Joseph’s life, and note THE FACT “The Lord was with Joseph.”

1. God was gracious to Joseph as a child. Happy are those who have Christ with them in the morning, for they shall walk with Him all day, and sweetly rest with Him at eventide.

2. “The Lord was with Joseph” when Joseph was at home, and He did not desert him when he was sent away from his dear father and his beloved home and was sold for a slave. I think I see him in the slave market exposed for sale. We have heard with what trembling anxiety the slave peers into the faces of those who are about to buy. Will he get a good master? Will one purchase him who will treat him like a man, or one who will use him worse than a brute? “ The Lord was with Joseph” as he stood there to be sold, and he fell into good hands. When he was taken away to his master’s house, and the various duties of his service were allotted to him, the Lord was with Joseph. The house of the Egyptian had never been so pure, so honest, so honoured before. Beneath Joseph’s charge it was secretly the temple of his devotions, and manifestly the abode of comfort and confidence. That Hebrew slave had a glory of character about him, which all perceived, and especially his master, for we read: “His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight.”

3. Then came a crisis in his history, the time of testing. We see Joseph tried by a temptation in which, alas, so many perish. He was attacked in a point at which youth is peculiarly vulnerable. His comely person made him the object of unholy solicitations from one upon whose goodwill his comfort greatly depended, and had it not been that the Lord was with him he must have fallen. Slavery itself was a small calamity compared with that which would have happened to young Joseph had he been enslaved by wicked passions. Happily the Lord was with him, and enabled him to overcome the tempter with the question, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” He fled. That flight was the truest display of courage. It is the only way of victory in sins of the flesh. The apostle says, “Flee youthful lusts which war against the soul.” When Telemachus was in the isle of Calypso, his mentor cried, “Fly, Telemachus, fly; there remains no hope of a victory but by flight.” Wisely Joseph left his garment and fled, for God was with him.

4. The scene shifts again, and he who bad been first a favoured child at home, and then a slave, and then a tempted one, now becomes a prisoner. The prisons of Egypt were, doubtless, as horrible as all such places were in the olden times, and here is Joseph in the noisome dungeon. He evidently felt his imprisonment very much, for we are told in the Psalms that “the iron entered into his soul.” He felt it a cruel thing to be under such a slander, and to suffer for his innocence. A young man so pure, so chaste, must have felt it to be sharper than a whip of scorpions to be accused as he was; yet as he sat down in the gloom of his cell, the Lord was with him. The degradation of a prison had not deprived him of his Divine Companion. Blessed be the name of the Lord, He does not forsake His people when they are in disgrace: nay, He is more pleasant with them when they are falsely accused than at any other time, and He cheers them in their low estate. God was with him, and very soon the kindly manners, the gentleness, the activity, the truthfulness, the industry of Joseph had won upon the keeper of the prison, so that Joseph rose again to the top, and was the overseer of the prison. Like a cork, which you may push down, but it is sure to come up again, so was Joseph: he must swim, he could not drown, the Lord was with him. The Lord’s presence made him a king and a priest wherever he went, and men tacitly owned his influence. In the little kingdom of the prison Joseph reigned, for “ God was with him.”

5. Joseph was made ruler over all Egypt, and God was with him. Well did the king say, “Can we find such a man as this is in whom the Spirit of God is?” His policy in storing up corn in the plenteous years succeeded admirably, for God was evidently working by him to preserve the human race from extinction by famine.

6. God was with him in bringing down his father and the family into Egypt, and locating them in Goshen, and with him till he himself came to die, when he “took an oath of the children of Israel, saying God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” The Lord was with him, and kept him faithful to the covenant, and the covenanted race, even to the close of a long life of one hundred and ten years.

II. We shall next review THE EVIDENCE OF THE FACT that God was with him.

1. The first evidence of it is this: he was always under the influence of the Divine presence, and lived in the enjoyment of it.

2. The next evidence is this: God was certainly with Joseph because he was pure in heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”; no other can do so. What fellowship hath light with darkness, or what concord hath Christ with Belial? The intense purity of Joseph was a proof that the thrice holy God was ever with him. He will keep the feet of His saints. When they are tempted He will deliver them from evil, for His presence sheds an atmosphere of holiness around the heart in which He dwells.

3. The next evidence in Joseph’s case was the diligence with which he exercised himself wherever he was. God was with Joseph, and therefore the man of God hardly cared as to the outward circumstances of his position, but began at once to work that which is good.

4. But notice again, God was with Joseph, and that made him tender and sympathetic. Some men who are prompt enough in business are rough, coarse, hard; but not so Joseph. His tenderness distinguishes him; he is full of loving consideration. He loved with all his soul, and so will every man who has God with him, for “God is love.” If you do not love, God is net with you. If you go through the world, selfish and morose, bitter, suspicious, bigoted, hard, the devil is with you, God is not; for where God is He expands the spirit, He causes us to love all mankind with the love of benevolence, and He makes us take a sweet complacency in the chosen brotherhood of Israel, so that we specially delight to do good to all those of the household of faith.

5. Another mark of God’s presence with Joseph is his great wisdom. He did everything as it ought to be done. You can scarcely alter anything in Joseph’s life to improve it, and I think if I admire his wisdom in one thing more than another it is in his wonderful silence. It is easy to talk, comparatively easy to talk well, but to be quiet is the difficulty.

6. “God was with him,” and this is the last evidence I give of it, that he was kept faithful to the covenant, faithful to Israel and to Israel’s God right through. Joseph stuck to his people and to their God: though he must live in Egypt, he will not be an Egyptian; he will not even leave his dead body to lie in an Egyptian pyramid. The Egyptians built a costly tomb for Joseph: it stands to this day, but his body is not there. “I charge you,” says he, “take my bones with you; for I do not belong to Egypt, my place is in the land of promise.” “He gave commandment concerning his bones.” Let others do as they will; as for me, my lot is cast with those who follow the Lord fully. Yes, my Lord, where Thou dwellest I will dwell; Thy people shall be my people, and Thy God my God, and may my children be Thy children to the last generation. If the Lord is with you that is what you will say, but if He is not with you, and you prosper in” the world, and increase in riches, you will turn your back on Christ and His people, and we shall have to say as Paul did, “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.”

III. Thirdly, let us observe, THE RESULT OF GOD’S BEING WITH JOSEPH. The result was that “he was a prosperous man”; but notice that, although the Lord was with Joseph, it did not screen him from hatred. “The Lord was with him,” but his brethren hated him. Ay, and if the Lord loves a man, the world will spite him. Furthermore, “The Lord was with Joseph,” bat it did not screen him from temptation of the worst kind: it did not prevent his mistress casting her wicked eyes upon him. The best of men may be tempted to the worst of crimes. The presence of God did not screen him from slander: the base woman accused him of outrageous wickedness, and God permitted Potiphar to believe her. Nay, the Divine presence did not screen him from pain: he sat in prison wearing fetters till the iron entered into his soul, and yet “ the Lord was with him.” That presence did not save him from disappointment. He said to the butler, “Think of me when it is well with thee”; but the butler altogether forgot him. Everything may seem to go against you, and yet God may be with you. The Lord does not promise you that you shall have what looks like prosperity, but you shall have what is real prosperity in the better sense. Now, what did God’s being with Joseph do for him?

1. First, it saved him from gross sin. He flees, he shuts his ears: he flees and conquers, for God is with him.

2. God was with him, and the next result was it enabled him to act grandly. Wherever he is he does the right thing, does it splendidly.

3. In such a manner did God help Joseph that he was enabled to fulfil a glorious destiny, for if Noah be the world’s second father, what shall we say of Joseph, but that he was its foster nurse? The human race had died of famine if Joseph’s foresight had not laid by in store the produce of the seven plenteous years, for there was a famine over all lands.

4. Also it gave him a very happy life, for taking the life of Joseph all through it is an enviable one. Nobody would think of putting him down among the miserable. If we had to make a selection of unhappy men, we certainly should not think of Joseph. No, it was a great life and a happy life; and such will yours be if God be with you.

5. And, to finish, God gave Joseph and his family a double portion in Israel, which never happened to any other of the twelve sons of Jacob. Those who begin early with God, and stand fast to the end, and hold to God both in trouble and prosperity, shall see their children brought to the Lord, and in their children they shall possess the double, yea, the Lord shall render unto them double for all they may lose in honour for His name’s sake. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Prosperity

In a long sunshine of outward prosperity, the dust of our inward corruptions is apt to fly about and lift itself up. Sanctified affliction, like seasonable rain, lays the dust and softens the soul. (H. G. Salter.)

Prosperity and security

Prosperity is not to be deemed the greatest security. The lofty unbending cedar is more exposed to the injurious blast than the lowly shrub. The little pinnace rides safely along the shore, while the gallant ship advancing is wrecked. Those sheep which have the most wool are generally the soonest fleeced. Poverty is its own defence against robbery. A fawning world is worse than a frowning world. Who would shake those trees upon which there is no fruit? (T. Secker.)

The prosperity of Joseph

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.)

Prosperous days

When may we speak of a man as “prosperous”? As a general rule, I suppose, when he carries out his plans to a successful issue; when his business is established on a sound basis, and is in a flourishing condition; when his investments are wisely made, and largely profitable. If, with all this, he enjoys good health and lives in the midst of domestic affection and comfort, then his lot is doubly fortunate. When life is attended by these circumstances, he may be said to be “a prosperous man.”

I. PROSPERITY IS A LEGITIMATE OBJECT OF PURSUIT. Our great care should be to pursue it lawfully--to use none but upright and honourable means for its attainment.

II. The counsels given by wise and practical men as to THE BEST MEANS OF SECURING LEGITIMATE SUCCESS are manifold--all agreeing in the main. One writer says, “If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counsellor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian angel.” Another likens prosperity to a ladder having six steps--faith, industry, perseverance, temperance, probity, independence. This, I think, is a ladder by which you are sure to rise, and to rise safely.

III. PROSPERITY HAS ITS DUTIES. Wealth always brings with itself responsibilities. Divine learning is needed for this stewardship. One of the first duties of a prosperous man is hearty gratitude to God. This will show itself in works of benevolence and religion, and cheerful consecration to God.

IV. PROSPERITY HAS ITS ANXIETIES. Care disfigures its face. One of the most successful men of this century, when surrounded by immense wealth and supposed to be enjoying it, wrote to a friend: “I live like a galley-slave, constantly occupied, and often pass the night without sleeping. I am wrapt in a labyrinth of affairs, and worn out with care.”

V. PROSPERITY HAS ITS DANGERS. It may prove a great blessing to a man, or a great curse. Many have been ruined by success. Valerian, the Roman Emperor, before he was raised to the throne, was temperate, wise, and virtuous; but after his investment with the purple he completely changed, and was notorious for meanness, imprudence, and general incapacity. (W. Walters.)

Prosperity and right principle

That in the working out of right principles there is a natural tendency to promote prosperity, and ensure success. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)

Tokens of God’s love

Prosperity is not always a sign of God’s special favour, yet prosperity undoubtedly comes from God, and is a fruit of God’s love to His own people, when He sees that prosperity is better for them than adversity. But how did God show that He was present with Joseph, by making him to prosper? Was not Joseph’s prosperity more properly his master’s than his own, when all the business which he transacted was his master’s, and the profit redounded to him? It is true, that Joseph’s prosperity was, to outward appearance, his master’s advantage rather than his own. But as “the little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked,” so the benefit which Joseph derived from Gem’s kindness to him was far greater than his master’s. He saw the love of God mitigating and sweetening his sorrows, and recommending him to his master’s favorer, that he might spend even the days of his banishment and humiliation with comfort. The more clearly we can discern the love of God in any prosperous incidents, the more pleasure we can take in them. A temporary relief in bondage with the love of God, is worth more than all the prosperity which ungodly men can enjoy. (G. Lawson, D. D.)

Lessons

1. The greatness of God disdains not to be with the lowness of His servants. God and Joseph are together.

2. God’s special presence of grace is vouchsafed to such as are more especially humbled.

3. God’s gracious presence maketh souls prosperous, wherever they be.

4. Gracious souls, though in bondage, will abide faithful unto Egyptian masters.

5. Providence in exercising saints usually proportions employment to endowment. Joseph for the house (Genesis 39:2).

6. God maketh sinful masters to see that He is present graciously with their servants.

7. Gracious servants make house, and all affairs prosper unto ungracious masters.

8. God maketh wicked men to see that they prosper by reason of His servants (Genesis 39:3). (G. Hughes, B. D.)

Joseph’s good fortune

Our common expression, “He’s a lucky fellow,” is hardly a phrase that we expect to find in Scripture. But it does occur, in Wycliffe’s version, in this very thirty-ninth chapter of Genesis. The second verse, as rendered by the earliest of Bible translators, runs thus: “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a luekie felowe.” Both the words “lucky” and “fellow” lost dignity between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, and King James’ translators wrote instead “a prosperous man.” But it is useful to refer to the older and more colloquial form, to emphasize what is really a most important though little recognized truth, namely, that a “lucky fellow” is not he that is rich, not he that makes a good stroke of business, not he that wins a coveted post, but he of whom we can truly say, “The Lord is with him.” For see who it is that the Bible calls a “lucky fellow.” Would any of us call Joseph “lucky”? Yes, says a sharp boy, I should; for in one day he became the greatest man in Egypt next to the king. The teacher who gets such an answer as this will himself be lucky! There is nothing like a half-wrong answer to emphasize the right one. The rejoinder will be--Very well, but look and see when it is that Joseph is called a “lucky fellow.” The phrase is not used of him when he becomes virtual ruler of Egypt, but long before that. It is just when he begins his life as a slave in a strange land. And the narrative is going on to tell of his encountering sore temptation, false accusation, unjust condemnation, and the horrors of an Egyptian prison. It is at the beginning of all this that he is called a “lucky fellow.” Why? Because the Lord was with him. (E. Stock.)

The Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph’s sake

Joseph brings prosperity to his master’s house

Some individuals there are who carry blessings with them everywhere. Like richly-scented flowers they fill the habitations into which they enter with delicious perfume, or, like clouds surcharged with rain, they let down benefits on every hand. Thus this Hebrew captive brings with him into Egypt, and into the house of Potiphar, the captain of the guard, a cornu copiae--“a horn of plenty,” and for his sake the Egyptian’s stores are multiplied to an extent he had not previously known. And cases similar to this are also often seen. Pious servants and pious slaves have frequently been blessings to their master’s house. Even in instances where the slave has been treated cruelly, his prayers, offered up in secret for his owner’s weal, have been answered in a manner the most remarkable, and his efforts to promote that owner’s interests have been crowned with very considerable success. Generally, however, it is only when the master acts towards his servant or towards his slave with justice that the blessing of heaven descends upon his house. It was from the time that Potiphar raised Joseph from the position of a slave to one of comparative dignity and honour that the Lord blessed him. (Thornley Smith.)

One man blessed for the sake of another

One man blessed for the sake of another. Here is a great law--here is a special lesson for many. A man looks at his property, and reasons that he must be good, and approved of God, otherwise he never could have so many blessings in his possession. It never enters the man’s mind that he has every one of these blessings for the sake of another man. The master blessed because he has a good servant! Would to God I could speak thunder-claps and speak lightning to many thousands in our city and throughout our land to-day upon this very matter I Here is a man, for example, who never enters a place of worship. No, no--not he. His wife is a member of the church, and if ever she is fiveminutes late in on Sunday, his mighty lordship foams and fumes, and is not going to be put upon in this way, and have his household arrangements upset by these canting, fanatical, religious people. What shall I call him? The wretch, the almost-devil, owes every penny he has to his dishonoured praying wife. If that woman--the only angel in God’s universe that cares for his soul--were to cease praying for him, God might rain fire and brimstone upon him and his dwelling-place. He does not know it. No! He is shrewd, cunning, wide-awake, has his eyes open, knows when the iron is hot and when to strike it, and he is such a wonderful genius in business. A maniac--not knowing that it is his praying wife that saves him from ruin, meanwhile from hell I Here is another man who thinks it manly to blaspheme, swear, and use profane language upon every opportunity, and to ridicule religion and religious people. He knows that it is all wrong. He has revelations from the nasty little god that he worships that everybody in the world is all wrong but himself. And that man prospers! His fields are verdant in spring-time, his crops are rich and golden in autumn. If you speak a word to him about religion he laughs at you, and intimates, in a not very roundabout manner, that you are a fool. And he owes all he has to a little invalid girl, who believes in God and prays to Him, and connects the house with heaven! God blesses one man for the sake of another. The husband is blessed because of the godliness of the wife. The parent is honoured because of the Christianity of the child. The strong man has prospered in his way because of the poor weak creature in his house who is mighty in soul towards God and truth. Yet these are the elements and the facts which are so often overlooked when men take stock and tell what they are worth. Ten men keep that brimstone-and-fire shower back. The righteous are the salt of the earth. The true, loving and God-fearing are the light of the world. But for them would God be patient with the world? What would it be, with His great power, to crush your little world, to pulverize and throw it away on the flying winds and forget it? It is Paul that saves the vessel on the stormy Adriatic. It is Joseph that blesses the house of Potiphar. It is the ten praying men that save the Sodoms of the earth from the lightning showers of judgment. And this is God’s plan all through. There is one man for whose sake all other men are blessed. This is the principle of mediation which runs through all the Divine government of man. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.” (J. Parker, D. D.)

A lesson to servants and masters

Joseph, like his father Jacob, is an example of contentment, industry, and fidelity, to servants. It is true, servants cannot command success, and God does not bind himself by an absolute promise to grant success to the best-conducted affairs. But it is undoubtedly the duty of servants to take the most likely means to promote the prosperity of their masters, and to seek the Divine blessing upon those affairs that are committed to them. By such behaviour, they are likely to prove blessings to their masters, and to attain that favour and confidence which they take pains to deserve. But if they should be ungratefully treated by their masters according to the flesh, they have a master in heaven who will by no means suffer them to want their due reward. Masters may likewise learn from this passage, what treatment is due to faithful servants. They ought to trust, to honour, and to love them. Potiphar was a stranger to the family of Israel, and yet he loved Joseph for his fidelity, and honoured him as the instrument of God’s providential blessings to himself. Christian masters have far stronger motives to honour Christian servants, whom they know to be not only servants, but above servants, brethren partakers of the same heavenly blessings and dignities with themselves. (G. Lawson, D. D.)

Lessons

1. God’s favour to His servants maketh them to be favoured by men.

2. Grace in the eyes of men and rulers justly gotten, is a blessing desirable here below.

3. A gracious Joseph may be an Egyptian’s favourite.

4. Favour with men of place usually draws favourites nearer to themselves.

5. Gradual is the preferment which Providence ordereth to His saints from men.

6. Grace, prudence, and fidelity win hearts of great men to trust strangers rather than their own.

7. Providence ordereth lowest slavery the way to greatest oversight in greatest charges (Genesis 39:4).

8. The time of doing good and lifting up saints, is the time of good to them that do it.

9. Jehovah himself rewardeth the good done unto His servants.

10. All outward blessings in the house and in the field are the blessings of God.

11. The gracious ones of God are the means of procuring blessing to all where they dwell.

12. Those rulers best provide for families, and states, who commit affairs to faithful ones (Genesis 39:5).

13. Faithfulness in servants worketh confidence in their rulers.

14. It is the rare commendation of gracious servants, that the hearts of masters may be secure in them. (G. Hughes, B. D.)