Blamed, and yet Blameless
Gen. 39
I want you to suppose for a minute that you have been accused of a doing something wrong, big or small, it does not matter. What matters, is that you have been accused and if you can not be proven innocent, the consequences are going to be very difficult to accept and handle. Now suppose that not only have you been accused of this wrong, but all of the evidence, and I mean all, points to the fact that you did it. What are you going to do? How are you going to respond?
While some, if not most people will run and look to find other evidence that points to their innocence, there are those select few who can simply say, I did not do it. And from the testimony of the way they live and have lived, they will be proven innocent.
In the word of God, Joseph is such a man.
Joseph we are told in Scripture was a blameless man. In other words, he was clean, pure, innocent, free from guilt. He was not free from blame, but rather when blame came; it did not stick, because he was living, and lived a blameless, again – clean, pure, innocent, free from guilt – life.
This morning we want to continue our series entitled Joseph – Stretched and Strengthened by God, by looking at Joseph as he has to endure the stretching of Mrs. Potiphar’s lust.
Our goal is to see God’s sovereignty and faithfulness allowing Joseph growth in godliness, particularly as it relates to being blameless, and for us to apply the Word of God to our lives so that we too may grow in our relationship with Him, learning how to live blameless lives.
We will do so by first walking through Genesis chapter 39 in its entirety, and then by taking a careful look back at blamelessness as it is addressed in the passage.
Let’s turn to Gen. 39 and begin by walking through the passage.
Let’s read verses 1-6a –
1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.
2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
3 Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.
5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
Basically this is saying – God is with Joseph.
In verses 6b-10 we learn that Mrs. Potiphar wants to be with Joseph too.
Let’s read verses 6b-10 –
7 It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.
9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.
So Mrs. Potiphar want to be with Joseph, but Joseph remains faithful.
Let’s read verses 11-18 –
11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.
12 She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.
13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,
14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.
15 “When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.”
16 So she left his garment beside her until his master came home.
17 Then she spoke to him with these words, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me;
18 and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”
Now let’s see that not only does Joseph remain faithful, so does God.
Let’s read verses 19-23 –
19 Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” his anger burned.
20 So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.
It is very clear from the passage that God is faithful and that Joseph is blamed, and yet blameless – accused, and yet pure or innocent.
So what must we do for the same to be true of us? To answer this let’s now look back at four points we must understand in regards to being blameless in order to be blameless ourselves.
First and foremost we must know that the basis for blamelessness is God is with us.
The reason we can be blameless is because God is with us.
Let’s look back at vs. 2-3. They state –
2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
3 Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Now let’s drop down to verses 21 and 23. They state –
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.
This stretching of Joseph starts and stops with Joseph in the same position – God is with him.
For the purpose of emphasis, this fact begins and ends this account.
Being blamelessness comes from God being with us.
We do not know what Joseph did or thought while he was in the well. We don’t know his thoughts on the road to Egypt. We don’t know what he did in the quietness of his room each night as a stranger in a stranger’s home. We have no idea what was going through his mind during all of the stretching he had to endure. If we read ahead, based upon his actions, we can conclude that he was spending time fellowshipping with God. We can surmise that it was deep, intimate fellowship. However, there is nothing that tells us this directly. The fact of the matter is the only thing we know for certain is God was with him. This formed the basis for him to become the servant of God he became.
God, and God alone, is perfectly blameless. Therefore only God and God alone can be a basis for mankind to live a blameless life. Blamelessness based in anyone or anything else is not true blamelessness.
God is with us.
The reason we can be blameless is because God is with us.
The first point we must understand in regards to being blameless is the basis for our blamelessness is God is with us.
The second point we must understand in regards to being blameless is found in verses 3 and 21.
Let’s go back and read them.
3 Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph; as did the chief jailer.
In other words, the existence of blamelessness is known through our actions.
Blamelessness does not need to be announced. It can be seen by others. It does not go unnoticed.
We do not need to tell others that we are blameless, we must show them.
Joseph never stood up and said – hey everybody look at me; I am blameless; I am pure; I am clean; I am not guilty. Hey everybody, do you see me; I am blameless.
Instead he lived blamelessly allowing his actions to speak.
It is most interesting that the word of God never once commands us to tell others of our blamelessness. It only commands us to be, or to live blamelessly.
If we want people to know that we are blameless, we must show them by the way we live.
This is very important to know, remember, and apply.
Actions speak louder than words.
Blamelessness that is shown is blamelessness that can be known.
The second point we must understand in regards to being blameless is – The existence of blamelessness is known through our actions.
Joseph realized just how important this is when he encountered the enemy of blamelessness.
The third point we must understand in regards to being blameless is the enemy of blamelessness is temptation, and it does attack.
Being blameless does not make one immune to temptation; it better prepares one to resist it.
Most of the time when this passage is preached the focus is on resisting temptation.
I believe it goes beyond resisting temptation. It goes to being blameless before God. Being Christ-like (holy) is not just a matter of resisting temptation. It is also a matter of living righteously. Resisting temptation coupled with living righteously results in one being blameless.
Let’s take a closer look at verses 7-12 in order to see just what Joseph did in order to remain blameless in the midst of temptation.
Let’s reread 7-9 –
7 It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.
9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
The first thing Joseph did in order to remain blameless was to have a proper view of sin. He called it a great evil; a sin against God. To often today we sugar coat sin. We speak of affairs, not quite telling the truth, over indulging, and sharing information. We should be talking about adultery, lieing, gluttony, and gossiping.
God calls sin, sin and so should we. He sees it as a great evil; so should we.
God hates sin and so should we. If we hated sin the way God does, we all be so much more blameless.
Because Joseph had a proper view of sin, he was able to remain blameless.
The second thing Joseph did in order to remain blameless was to consistently, continuously obey God.
Let’s reread verse 10.
10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.
Note that it says Mrs. Potiphar spoke to Joseph day after day and day after day he did not listen to her.
Temptation is constant and persistent; therefore, obedience must be continuous and consistent.
Another way of saying this is – Persistent temptation calls for consistent obedience.
In 2 Cor. 7:1 states –
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
We are commanded to mature or grow in holiness. This can only be done through consistent, continuous obedience.
Because Joseph consistently, continuously obeyed God, he was able to remain blameless.
Let’s reread verse 12 to see a third thing Joseph did in order to remain blameless.
12 She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.
The third thing Joseph did in order to remain blameless was to flee sexual sin. He left. He put distance between it and himself. He went outside. He got as far away as possible. In doing so, he greatly reduced the possibility of giving in.
Rom. 13:14 tells us –
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. Another rendering says – do not even think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
When it comes to any sin, we should not even give it a thought. When it comes to sexual sin, we should flee. Sometimes in Scripture, we are told to stand and resist sin. But not so with sexual sin, Scripture always tells us to flee from it.
Because Joseph fled sexual sin, he was able to remain blameless.
If we to want to REMAIN blameless IN THE MIDST OF TEMPTATION,
we must have a proper view of sin;
we must consistently obey God; and
we must flee sexual sin.
The third point we must understand in regards to being blameless is – the enemy of blamelessness is temptation and it does attack.
Let’s review –
The basis for blamelessness is God is with us.
The existence of blamelessness is known through our actions.
The enemy of blamelessness is temptation and it does attack.
The fourth and final point we must understand in regards to being blameless is highlighted in verse 20.
It says – Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail.
In human terms this is terrible; it is unfair; it is unjust. Joseph obeyed God and ends up in jail for it. How can one say God is sovereign? How can one say God is faithful? What sort of sovereign and faithful God allows his servant to go to jail for obeying Him? No, if he were really faithful and sovereign, he would have allowed for Mrs. Potiphar to be exposed for the adulteress that she really is and for Joseph to be proven blameless walking away a free man and promoted to an even better job in an even better household.
That is human thinking. Divine think understands differently. Divine thinking understands –
the end result of blamelessness is sometimes difficult.
Being blameless means being willing to accept the sometimes difficult consequences of obedience.
Blamelessness does not always find immediate reward.
It remembers God’s sovereignty and faithfulness; and, it obeys for the sake of obedience not for the sake of potential blessing.
Joseph obeyed and he saw God’s sovereignty put him in jail – in that day the normal punishment for a slave accused of attempted rape was instant death. I would love to know what, if anything went on between Potiphar and Joseph in between verses 19 and 20; in between Potiphar’s anger and his sending Joseph to jail. From silence, I believe so that credit can go where credit is due, we know that God in His sovereignty gave Joseph jail over death.
Joseph did not know what the future held. We have the rest of the story. Joseph did not. He had no idea that he was going to become the Prime Minister of Egypt. He obeyed for the sake of honoring God by living a blameless life.
Then verse 21 tells us – God was with Him. God is indeed faithful.
Our circumstances do not indicate the absence and/or presence of God’s blessings.
Joseph was blessed, yet he was in jail. Whether or not God is with us is not determined by our situations in life. God was with Joseph, yet he was in jail. God is with us where ever we may be.
The fourth and final point we must understand in regards to being blameless is the end result of blamelessness is sometimes difficult.
Conclusion
1. Again, as we did at the beginning, let’s suppose. This time let’s suppose that you have been accused of something and anyone who has ever observed your life is going to be called in to testify, including family members. From the testimony of the way you live and have lived, will you be proven innocent? If all of a sudden you are accused of something by someone who really does not know you and they go to those who do, will they be able to honestly say – based upon your blameless life – I do not see how that can be true. Or will they say – well based upon what I have seen, that doesn’t surprise me?
2. Believe it or not, you have a say in what they will choose to say. The way you live and have lived your life will greatly influence what they say. If you live blamelessly, you will most likely hear them say – no way, I do not see how that can be true! Don’t live blamelessly and you will most likely hear them say – it wouldn’t surprise me if they did that.
3. To live a blameless life or not, the choice is yours!
4. Joseph was blameless. He was stretched by God through Mrs. Potiphar’s lust.
5. He was strengthened by God as he understood –