An Impossible Situation

Series, “Bigger than Life.” Joseph lived a life that seems bigger than other lives. I think we default toward mediocrity. To just trying to get ahead. In the second half of Genesis we read about a kid who just did what seems impossible. God used him to save two nations, rescue millions of lives, save the lives of his own family, and in the midst of it, he overcame huge personal obstacles.

And, in a book of Miracles, there are no big miracles in the Joseph story. Joseph didn’t get ahead by doing miracles.

I noticed reading about Joseph that the first place of major testing in his life was sexual temptation. And his first big real decision was regarding purity. At 17 he chose to honor God sexually. That was his first real “adult” decision. Before that people were just deciding things for him and he bopped along.

I. Joseph came from a

1. Polygamists. (Jacob: 2 wmn/concubines: 12 kids)

2. Murderers. (Simeon/Levi murdered entire family)

3. Mean. Gen. 37:4-39

–Gen. 37:18, his coat communicated that he would not be required to work.

–Gen. 37:25, Archaeologists have found bones at the bottom of cisterns all over that part of the Middle East.

–Gen. 37:31, They slaughter a goat to trick Jacob. This is Biblical irony, since Jacob himself

4. Immoral. (Genesis 38) Joseph’s brother Judah slept with his own daughter in law, thinking she was a village prostitute.

II. Joseph’s First Big Life Decision: Honor God (Genesis 39:1-10)

• Genesis 39:7, the masters wife invites Joseph to have sex with her. What would most 17-year old’s do? What would his dad do? Or his brothers? Joseph is now faced with the first big decision of his life.
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
• God created sex for the covenant of marriage. Sex bonds two people together, emotionally and physically. Sex was given for the pleasure of marriage.
• Sex is more than just a physical act. Sex in the wrong situation creates lasting long term damage. You will never forget sex in the wrong situation.
• Joseph identified that to sleep with his masters wife would not only be a wrong doing against his master, but would be “great wickedness” and “sin” against GOD.

III. Excuses:

I often hear people tell me reasons they have for not honoring God sexually. Their attitude is often one of stunned disbelief that Christians still hold to the teachings of sexual purity.

1. People in the Bible misbehaved all the time.

2. All sin is the same. (1 Cor. 6:19)

3. Everyone else doing it. (1 Thess. 4:3-5)

4. If My relationship status is SINGLE it’s not wrong. (Eph. 5:3-4)

5. If I ask forgiveness later its okay. (Jude 4.)

“The morality of today’s Christians has become almost indistinguishable from that of non-Christians. It’s often impossible to discern where the world ends and the church begins. Our failure to follow the teachings of Scripture in this area undermines our ability to accomplish what God has called us to. Why? Because if we are just like the world, we have nothing to offer it. An unholy world will never be won to Christ by an unholy church.” -Randy Alcorn, The Purity Principle.

IV. The Joseph Plan (Genesis 39:11-12)

• Genesis 39:12 is interesting. She grabbed him by his garment, and he ran and left the “garment” in her hand. The Hebrew Word for “garment” is a Homonym; two words spelled the same. You know which word it is by context. It can mean, “Garment” like clothing. Or it can mean, “immorality.”
• 1 Cor. 6:19: “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.”

WHAT WAS JOSEPH’s PLAN?

. . . from temptation.

. . . to a safe Christian. (James 5:16)

. . . to God’s forgiveness. (Isaiah 1:18)