3/29/23 - Genesis 39: 1-6

Genesis 39: 1-6

Observation:

Joseph is taken to Egypt and becomes a slave to Potiphar who is an Egyptian captain for the guards. The Lord was with Joseph therefore Joseph prospered while living in Potiphar's household. Eventually Joseph became Potiphar attendent as Potiphar took notice of how the Lord was with Joseph and gave Joseph success in everything he did. Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything within the household and completely entrusted Joseph of everything that belonged to Potiphar. Because of Joseph, everything in Potiphar's household was blessed as well as the fields. Potiphar would leave everything to Josesph's care and Potiphar would not concern himself with anything other than the food that he ate.

Interpretation:

Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar would be considered a "chief of police" in today's society; this would mean Potiphar is a highly trusted official in the government of Egypt. It's clear for Joseph he had no control over his own destiny as he was bought and sold like a piece of property. The Lord was with Joseph wherever he went therefore while he was a slave, he could have ended up with just about anyone but Potiphar ended up buying him. Even as a slave, God was with Joseph and in turn, everything Joseph did God blessed and allowed Joseph to be successful. In Gen 39 v3 it states "his master saw that the Lord was with him", Potiphar can see God's blessings and while it doesn't mean Potiphar becoming a believer himself, I think in this context, Potiphar acknowledges it. And even though Joseph was a slave, in the verse "the Lord was with him" it would imply Joseph being in a calm state or free in the sense that Joseph was full of God's blessings enough for Potiphar to see it himself. 

Through God's blessing, Joseph is able to advance in his position even as a slave. Joseph did not take the easy road in his position as Joseph kept believing in God and believed God will bless him even in his current position. Surely, earning Potiphar's full trust did not happen overnight as it must have take awhile to take place. After doing some research, in Gen 41v46, it states Joseph's age to be 30 years old and Joseph was 17 years old when he was first sold into slavery (Gen 37 v2). Joseph must have worked extremely hard to get Potiphar to completely leave everything under his household to Joseph. Being a young teenager, Joseph is put into a position where he does not know the culture, the language, customs, etc. The combination of Joseph's neverending faith in God and hard work allowed him to prosper and rise up in the ranks even when Joseph was put in a horrendous disadvantage state. 

Personal Reflection:

We all go through difficult situations throughout our lives and it's easy for all of us to always use those negative situations as an excuse and typically blame others for our lack of success. There's two disctintive lessons that I take from this passage. 

The first being regardless of the situation, God has allowed me to be in it so what must I do to glorify God while being in that situation? The easiest personal gospel I could share in the past was when I was deciding on what to do whether to go through with the abortion or not. And when I made the correct choice in the eyes of God, even though I was not in the greatest situation to support the family financial wise, God ALWAYS blessed me and Jiyoon. I would have to remind myself often that blessing doesn't always mean that I will become a millionaire instead I would receive what I need and then some. For example, when Jiyoon and I bought our current home, we were blessed to even get the opportunity on purchasing it but needed extra funds for renovation and then my mother would call me letting me know that my grandmother gave us X amount of dollars for the renovation work. We didn't even talk to my grandmother about it so it was clearly God's doing and blessing.

Second lesson is humility. In a lot of situations in my life, I could have easily folded and resulted in the combination of joining gangs for "delusional friendship/brotherhood", doing drugs or drinking alcohol for "attempting to flee or avoid the real world's problems", or sex for "satisfying the lustful desires and having that sense of belonging". It's quite humbling to read that for Joseph's situation not only was he sold as a slave but his own flesh and blood (brothers) sold him as a slave. Joseph could have used that against God and blamed God for putting him in that situation and that none of it is his fault, and let's not forget the fact that Joseph was young being 17 years old. When I was 17 years old, I was frustrated with God for where I was at in my life including how I was pushed by my father's side of the family to take care of my father. 

Application:

After reading this passage, I'm having that strong feeling inside me where I need to question my heart's desire when it comes to the situation in life that I'm in. Am I truly doing something for God's glory or is it more for selfish desires. Jiyoon and I want a bigger home for our children but the real question we need to ask ourselves is, if we truly want this home, how are we glorifying this want to God? Lately I have been praying that if I was to get this new home that I would open it up for fellowship or a place to meet with other members of the church. This is something I'm continuing to pray for and need to spend more time on with God. This leads to humbleness or humility where if God does not bless us with a new home then would Jiyoon and I be humble enough to understand that God wants us to stay here for a reason. We need to remind ourselves that it took Joseph several years (more than a decade) to truly see the fruit of God's blessings where Joseph went through a roller coster of life's events. We need to humble ourselves and use Joseph's situation as example that life is not lineal. Joseph did become an entrusted figure in a high ranking official's household which he eventually got thrown into prison for a crime he did not commit and being kept in prison for at minimum 2 years and then becoming a viceroy. Point is no matter the situation that God puts in front of us, we must never lose faith and we must always honor and do everything we can to glorify God. This is something I need to continuously work on from day to day.