Title: Joseph Overcame Temptation
Content 1. Words that begin
The verse we read is the story of Joseph who overcame a really difficult temptation.
2. Temptation of Potiphar's Wife
Joseph, who did not give up his faith in God even though he was sold, and maintained his faith while serving as a slave in the house of Potiphar, the Egyptian guard, prospered in everything he did because God was with him. When Potiphar, the leader of the demonstrators, learned this surprising and strange fact, he entrusted Joseph with all the household chores so that he could concentrate on his country affairs. When Joseph became the general manager of Potiphar's household and began to take care of all household chores, God blessed General Potiphar's house because of Joseph who believed well. But Hosadamah, a very difficult hand of temptation came to Joseph.
For a while, Potiphar's wife, who had no interest in Joseph, who had been a slave in lowly clothes for a while, saw Potiphar's wife dressed worthy of her position as a household secretary and working under the command of many slaves. It's tempting to do it.
There are several reasons why Joseph has a hard time resisting temptation.
The first is that the seducer is the wife of the leader of the protester who holds the right to life or death. You don't know what will happen to you on the day that you recklessly refuse and you are hated.
Second, because Joseph himself had long since left his parents and brothers and had been a foreign slave since he was young, he was starving for affection.
Third, Joseph was a young man who opened his eyes to the opposite sex and had a strong heart to draw the opposite sex.
Fourth, sexual seduction of the opposite sex itself is a very difficult test to overcome. Sexual desire is one of the most intractable instinctive desires, and it has the characteristic that there is no solid evidence of adultery. Proverbs 30:18-20 says, "There are three things that I marvel at, but do not understand: the traces of eagles flying in mid-air, and the traces of snakes crawling on the rock, and the traces of ships passing by the sea, and men and women. And so it is with the walk of the harlot, and as she eats and washes her mouth, saying, I have done no evil.”
There is nothing more attractive than the temptation to sin without evidence for those who want to do evil. Think about it. After committing a crime, do you not commit greater sins to hide it? Doesn't it even kill you at all? However, there can be no sin that escapes the flaming eyes of God.
Evidence that Joseph's temptation was a really difficult test to overcome can be seen by looking at the sexual deviance of today's Korean society.
A cheating housewife dragged an executive into the house, but after a while her husband knocked on the door and shouted to open it. Surprised as if their hearts were about to fall, the two hurried to discuss, and as a result, an executive wearing only panties went into the closet to hide. The child, startled by the commotion, began to cry. As I opened the door while calming my heart, my husband entered the room. My husband, who opened the closet door to hang his clothes, was startled and said: "Why is the kid crying because you're surprised? Not being polite."
Maybe the husband is wise. "The whole world is like that, but what do you do with digging. Your bastard is ungrateful, you just have to pretend you don't know!" I don't know if I even thought of that. Or, she doesn't even know that her husband has had a similar experience... .
3. Joseph's Wise Rejection and Persistent Temptation
Faced with a very difficult test, Joseph, very wisely, refused, giving good reasons.
First, the owner made himself the general manager of the household and did not interfere with all possessions, but delegated them all to his own hands. He said that he could not betray his master who trusted him so much.
Second, the master forbade only one thing: the mistress, the master's wife.
Third, it is therefore a great evil to grant the request of the mistress. It should be noted that Joseph understands such evil as not merely a sin in human relationships, but as a sin against God. He said to the woman, "How can I do this great evil and sin against God?"
Everyone, please believe that all evil deeds are sins against God. The secret to overcoming the temptation of sin is to fear God.
Joseph's tempted response each and every word came from a truly extraordinary wisdom of faith, so it was a good opportunity for Potiphar's wife to repent and believe in the God that Joseph believed. However, instead of repenting and believing in God, the woman begged Joseph to sleep with her every day. Joseph wasn't even with him at all. Psalm 1:1 says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers." A person must have discernment and the courage to practice. If you do proper discernment and do not practice it with your own interests or various other reasons, it is not much different from lack of discernment. If it's wrong, it's hard to stop, and if it's right, you must do it. This is Joseph's attitude.
One day Joseph went in to serve, and there was no one in the house, only the woman. Joseph's heart sank, but the woman saw it as a golden opportunity and blatantly grabbed Joseph's long robe and stretched it out, urging him to sleep with him. Joseph couldn't shake it off, so he took off the clothes he was caught in and ran out of the house.
4. Potiphar's wife who framed Joseph
The woman is ashamed and worthy of admiring Joseph as "a great man," but rather, it burns with hatred. So, he called the housemates and said, "Look, the master is bringing a Hebrew to us and harassing us. He was trying to scare me, so I shouted loudly to come in to me, but I also left my clothes and ran away." I criticized him, and he framed me with the same words while showing Joseph's clothes to my husband who had left work.
Strangely enough, Joseph's clothes are decisive evidence for the woman's slanderous logic, but at the same time serve as decisive evidence for the fact itself. Herein lies the problem of human reason and the law. This is the reason why Joseph was furious and made no excuses for his master Potiphar, who was interrogating him. I hope you believe that the bigger reason is because you have faith to completely surrender your problems to Almighty God. No, God was with Joseph and made him prosper even in prison.
5. Conclusion
Although temptations are not difficult to overcome, there are many who ruin their character and life by giving in to temptation. In most cases, we are tempted, and sometimes succumbed to temptation, because of our own desires for money, reason, fame, or power. Even among church members who believe in the Lord, there are many people who, by falling into temptation, hide the glory of God and destroy their lives and families. If you live your whole life, you have no choice but to fight the constant temptation. Know that no matter how small a sin is, it is a sin against God, have faith to fear God, and overcome all temptations.