WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:01.840 Good morning. 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:05.200 Today's scripture is from Genesis 39. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:06.799 So buckle up. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:19.039 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had brought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:26.079 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:32.000 His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:35.200 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:40.240 And he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:48.079 From the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:52.159 The blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in house and field. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:59.439 So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:02.479 Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:07.680 And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:15.359 But he refused and said to his master's wife, Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:19.680 He and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:26.719 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.319 How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:37.040 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:45.760 But one day when he went to the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:49.599 But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:02:00.560 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:04.400 He came into me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:07.920 And as soon as he heard that, I lifted up my voice and cried out. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:12.000 He left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:16.560 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:23.039 And she told him the same story, saying, The Hebrew servant whom you brought among us came in to me to laugh at me. 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:28.560 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:34.560 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, this is the way your servant treated me. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:36.159 His anger was kindled. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:43.759 And Joseph's master took him and put him into prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:50.159 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:55.120 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.919 Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:04.000 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charts, because the Lord was with him. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:06.800 And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:08.159 This is the word of the Lord. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:09.439 Please be seated. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:14.479 Good morning. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:17.680 Welcome to Redemption Church Denver. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:19.039 My name is James Rathman. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:26.319 I'm the pastor here, and we are continuing in our movement through the stories in Genesis. 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:43.680 Now, we've been in Joseph's story for a couple of weeks, and last week we got to see a little detour from Joseph's story, where we saw this basically a catalog of sexual sin in the stories of Judah and Tamar. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:56.319 This week is a bit more uplifting as we see Joseph's story, and rather than being an example of just all the things not to do, there's finally somebody admirable in the chosen family. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:01.520 And we see that in Joseph's story this morning, something that's deeply worth admiring. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:06.960 So let's pray and we'll move into our text for today. 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:18.319 Holy Father, we praise you, that we might gather together and worship and honor your name. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:21.360 Lord, it is so sweet to trust in you. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.240 We pray that we might grow in grace to trust you more. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:37.360 Lord, that we might see in your word good reasons to trust you, that we might see that the things that you call good truly are good and wonderful and pleasing. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:48.000 Lord, I pray that our hearts might be shaped to desire the goodness that you have for us, to trust you to provide it, and to find you all sufficient. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:05:00.879 Lord, let our hearts be geared towards honoring you, and let us see the depth of your love towards us, that we might experience that as the deepest reality that guides our hearts to honor you. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:02.639 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:03.519 Amen. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:19.680 Now, the strange thing about Judah is Judah is free, he's under no compulsion, and he's not even being directly tempted. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:27.759 And yet he falls into a terrible pattern of sexual immorality, which ripples through his whole family. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:30.639 Joseph is a perfect opposite. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.120 Judah is like an anti-Joseph. 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:45.600 Joseph is enslaved, under compulsion, being directly tempted, and yet he remains faithful to the Lord. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:53.519 It is an incredible righteousness, an incredible integrity that we see in the life of Joseph this morning. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:55.439 So let's look at this story. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:59.120 It's a famous story of Joseph in Potiphar's house. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:08.639 And uh in it there are a lot of things which I think we'll find particularly relevant for our own struggles with sin, particularly sexual sin. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:15.839 And we'll find a hopefulness in the Lord's guidance of Joseph's life. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:19.279 So let's begin in Genesis 39, verses 1 through 2. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.000 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:32.480 And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had brought him, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:46.240 Now you may remember Judah's story begins with Judah in the Promised Land, and then he meets a friend named Hera who is a bad influence, and he moves south. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.920 South in the Genesis geography is always bad. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.439 If you hear down or south, think bad. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:56.319 It's a quick little shortcut for you. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:06.399 Now in uh this story, Joseph, Judah goes south of his own accord, but Joseph is taken south. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:11.600 He is sold to the Ishmaelites who take him south to Egypt. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:16.240 Egypt is like there's it there's two really southern places. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:28.079 There's Egypt, which is like the southernmost part of the map, and then there's Cush, which is Ethiopia, and it's it's south of Egypt, and that's the that's another world. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:29.759 That's a completely other world. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:31.920 We'll see interactions in those places. 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:37.120 But Egypt, when you hear somebody being taken to Egypt, you should think this is the edge of the map. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.000 You know, and uh think like a medieval map. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:42.319 What do you see on the edge of the map? 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:44.639 Monsters. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:45.519 Exactly. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:46.480 It's strange. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:48.639 You know, here be monsters. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:52.079 That's what uh Google Maps says, I think. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:56.879 And uh that's what's taking that's what's taking place here. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:58.720 So we should sort of hear that geographically. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.439 We're being shown a descent of Joseph. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.920 It's like he's being buried in this sort of movement, this subterranean movement south. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.399 And you can even see it in the people that exchange hands. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:12.800 You know, things for Joseph are being shown to us that they're going from bad to worse. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:21.839 Joseph is moving from the Ishmaelites, bad, not the family of promise, the rejected family, but still in the lineage of Abraham. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:25.199 And he moves from the Ishmaelites to the hands of the Egyptians. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:30.240 Now, this is totally outside the story, totally outside the covenantal people. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:49.679 But also in Joseph's life, in this terrible descent, we see this double movement taking place where he's taken to the bottom, he's taken to the depths, and yet in these places, the Lord is with him. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:09:00.320 And so in each of the places that Joseph goes, it is a it is a terrible descent, and yet there's this double movement of goodness that's taking place right in the midst of it. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:02.960 You just have to look and see it, and it all hinges on this. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:14.240 In verse 2, it says, the Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:23.440 Now, we would expect with this descent that the descriptions of his time in Egypt in Potiphar's house would just be terrible. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.720 But the way that this story starts is they're almost serene. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:28.639 They're like edenic. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:31.519 They're everything he touches just seems to work. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:43.440 You know, his labor is barely, you know, Adam is kicked out of the garden, he's he's moved away, he's down off of the mountain of Eden, and it everything becomes toil and pain. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:52.960 But Joseph, at the beginning of this story, in Egypt, in the far south, in the descent, it's everything he touches. 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:54.320 It just works. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.200 It's put in his charge, and he's successful. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.399 Listen to this description of Joseph and Potiphar's house. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:12.159 It says, From the time that he made him overseer in his house, that Potiphar made Joseph overseer in his house, and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:16.960 The blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:25.519 So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:27.600 All right, so think about that. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:30.480 This is Potiphar's biggest concern. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:33.440 What am I gonna eat next? 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:39.759 Yeah, that's uh there's a description for that type of life, and it's not bad. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:42.960 That type of life is not bad. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.159 When your only concern has become, okay, what's next? 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:47.919 What's for what's for dinner? 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:49.360 Oh, how are things going? 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.000 And uh, you know, the rest of your house, how are things going in the fields? 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:52.799 Great. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:54.000 Fields are great. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:54.799 All right, all right. 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:57.039 How are things how are things going inside the house? 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:57.759 Great. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:10:58.960 Things are things are great. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:00.080 Inside, outside? 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.360 I'm just I'm more concerned about dinner, to be honest. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:05.759 That's where my focus has really shifted. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:10.320 Joseph for Potiphar is the salt of the earth. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:13.360 See, this is what the people of God are. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:16.320 I will bless those who bless you. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:25.200 He is sent into the the furthest steps, and then there's this turn just by his presence that Potiphar's house is blessed. 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:29.039 This is what the people of God are meant to be. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:33.679 We are meant to be the bringers of blessing into the world. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.440 It is good that the people of God are here. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:40.480 It is good that Christians moved into the neighborhood. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.120 It is good that Christians are living next door. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:45.919 Look at the blessing that is coming from this. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:50.399 We've seen this pattern throughout the biblical story. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:12:01.840 You know, consider when uh God is talking to Abraham, and God is saying, I'm going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because there are no righteous people that live there. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:06.799 And then Abraham enters this debate with God, and he says, Well, what if there's 50 righteous? 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.320 All right, now give me 40. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:09.759 All right, all right, now give me 30. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:12.799 And they whittle it down uh the number. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:22.720 Now, there's a lot, of course, that's interesting about that story, but one of the things it shows us is how does the world hold together? 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:28.559 What is it that participates in the blessing of a city? 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:34.000 And what is it that helps a city from falling into absolute destruction? 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:36.000 It's just a few righteous. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:38.159 It doesn't take many. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:46.240 But these few hidden, righteous people, these are the pillars of the earth. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:49.519 Why is Denver not destroyed? 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:56.159 Well, it may you it may be because you you're you might be sitting next to some of the pillars of the earth. 00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:01.440 And it looks like just a quiet, hidden life of prayer. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:07.600 It looks like someone who may be easily forgotten and easily overlooked. 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:16.320 And yet, from the heavenly perspective, these are the pillars of the earth, the righteousness that upholds the world. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:21.919 And Potiphar, this Egyptian, is getting to participate in this blessing. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:26.080 Joseph is the salt of the earth for Potiphar. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:36.240 So there's a bit of a turn as the story continues from this sort of edenic moment in the beginning. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:39.360 And it's introduced at the end of verse 6. 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:43.279 Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:53.360 And you could think, oh, just a continuation of all the nice things that are happening in uh it's nice when life is going well and it's full of nice things. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:56.480 Think how nice it is to be good looking when that's happening. 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:02.639 Now that could be where it's headed, but what's taking place is something different. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:15.279 It's it's uh uh a uh the blessedness of Joseph is going to be received like a curse in Egypt. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:22.639 And after a time, his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:24.240 Okay. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:28.559 Now let's try and understand this dynamic. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.440 This is an important dynamic in the story. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:46.720 Potiphar's wife sees Joseph, sees that he's attractive in form and appearance, sees that he has been successful in all that he has touched, that he has risen to become second in the house only to her husband. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:51.360 And she sees him and sets her eyes upon him. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:55.679 There's something about this gaze of hers. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:00.720 Now there's a dynamic that we shouldn't overlook in their relationship. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:04.080 Joseph is her slave. 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:13.440 Slaves don't get requests from their masters, they get commands. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.279 And slaves do not deny their masters. 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:19.840 This is what it is to be a slave. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:31.360 And so when she says, lie with me, she is not just uh, you know, some someone on the street corner who's like cat calling Joseph. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.399 This is not, which happens to guys all the time. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:38.639 It would have been surprising enough. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:49.679 The dynamic is the master, the one who owns you, is making a demand of you. 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.200 So what does she see in Joseph? 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:03.440 Now it is it's obviously not wrong to admire the admirable. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:07.039 That would be a strange requirement of the scriptures. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:09.919 Those things which are admirable don't admire. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:13.759 Those things which are attractive do not find attractive. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:15.440 No, that's not it. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:19.679 So it's not just that she is over-admiring. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:23.279 I think that's the wrong way to look at what is happening. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:29.679 I think that her desire is absolute possession of Joseph. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:38.799 Because Joseph, to her, she owns every aspect of his life. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:45.120 His decisions, the fruits of his labor are hers to participate in. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:49.759 But there is one aspect of Joseph's life, which she does not possess. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:55.039 There's only one aspect which does not belong to her. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:02.399 Now, throughout the scriptures, we see this pattern of an asymmetry. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:03.919 We looked at this a bit last week. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:10.799 There's an asymmetry in the patterns of feminine sexual immorality and masculine sexual immorality. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:17.359 Now, masculine sexual immorality looks like Judah last week, and it's something more like tyranny. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.880 Because the tyrant has something available to him. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:21.519 You know what? 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:30.720 A tyrant is a tyrant because they get to make demands and receive whatever they want, and then they face no repercussions. 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:32.960 That's what the tyrant gets. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:37.200 He gets no repercussions from his sexual immorality. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:42.480 And that is a typical pattern of masculine sexual immorality. 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:48.240 It's a tyranny that desires to have sex with no responsibility. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:57.359 Now, the biblical pattern is that the man should not have sex with anyone whom he does not place his name upon. 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.000 It's marriage. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:10.960 And that means when you when the the husband places his name, his very name, upon his wife, he is saying, I will treat you as me. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:17.680 I will take absolute responsibility in this relationship. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:27.279 So that I will not just be whatever repercussions you face from this sexual relationship, those will become my repercussions. 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:32.960 You can see the necessity of this for family because you know sex is where people come from. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:38.240 And so that means that children will be under his name. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.960 It is an absolute taking of responsibility. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:46.000 But the tyrant is the one who needs face no responsibility. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:52.160 And is able to take what he wants for himself and then cast off any responsibility that would come from it. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:19:01.759 Now, the feminine pattern of sexual immorality is something more like Potiphar's wife, which is something like possession. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:10.640 It is not a receiving of the husband's name, it is taking his name from him. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:32.000 Now, this pattern, it is it is in a sense, it is a removal of the man's name, towards shame and dishonor, and even a losing of the ability to hold any responsibility for what he's done. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:40.400 Now, well, let's follow this pattern as it takes place because it's so clearly shown in Potiphar's wife. 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:57.920 The Proverbs say, in Proverbs 5, verses 3 through 4, it says, For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:09.920 Now, why is it that the uh lips of the forbidden woman are so uh so appealing? 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:20.960 Well, because the the lips of the forbidden woman, you can you consider what Potiphar's wife is saying, and what she's saying is you can you can come and be with me. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:28.400 In fact, I'm demanding that you'd come and be with me, and there will be no repercussions for this. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:50.480 Now it's perfectly attuned to the man's desires to have sex with no responsibility attached, to pretend, to get to indulge this idea that he can truly live as a tyrant with no one above him who can hold him accountable for his actions. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:58.079 And the seduction is yes, come and there will be no repercussions for your actions here. 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:03.279 That is what the lips of the forbidden woman say. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:13.200 Now listen closely to the proverb as it continues in verses eight through eleven. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:37.759 The advice is keep your way far from her, do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:40.640 Consumed. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:48.079 You can hear that word, it it explains what's taking place with Potiphar, with Potiphar's wife. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:55.200 She will consume all aspects of Joseph, and he will get to participate in none of it. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:59.359 She will own him in absolute possession. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:02.079 Now we can look at this. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:06.720 This might just seem like, okay, those are kind of like where do you experience this? 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:08.880 Just like a psychological level or something? 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:12.000 Like, oh, Joseph might feel possessed by her. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:21.839 We're bad at thinking in terms of lineages and in terms of sexual morality grounded in the ideal of the family. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:33.119 When we think of sexual morality in our culture, we think of it in terms of arbitrary restraints that are put on the free expression of our desires. 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:38.240 We get that from Freud, civilization and its discontents. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:41.920 Why is civilization full of discontented people? 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:45.119 Because we all have desires. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:58.559 And we wouldn't be so anxiety-ridden and full of mental disorders if we were simply able to give full expression to the desires that we have. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:09.920 But civilization requires that we submit some of our desires towards the greater functioning of the world. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:14.720 And that means that civilization will always be full of discontented people. 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:16.880 That's Freud's idea. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:24.400 And you can see that the pattern there is there's the desires of the person, which are good and not to be questioned. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:29.440 And then there's the restraint, which the person only experiences negatively. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:36.240 And so when we restrain our sexual desires in our culture, that is thought of as just a negative thing. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:39.599 It is always bad to be restraining your sexual desires. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:40.160 Why? 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:44.079 Because the restraints on your sexual desires are ultimately just arbitrary. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:44.720 Okay. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:46.160 Now let's get back into. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:51.440 We've ventured off into our culture's way of viewing things. 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:55.519 Now let's let's try and imagine this from a biblical perspective. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.640 We're following the story of a family. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:10.559 Our sexual morality is not arbitrary, but it is about the preservation of family, where people come from, and that fundamental institution of civilization. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:14.799 Civilization is not an oppressive thing tacked on to our fundamental desires. 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:23.839 It is a good thing which flows out of these foundational unit of civilization, which is family. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:35.519 How is it that Joseph would be consumed, his honor given away by going to Potiphar's wife? 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:38.640 Well, look at this very practically. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:40.880 Joseph is the child of promise. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:43.680 The promise goes to a particular family. 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:48.160 His lineage, to his lineage belongs the promise. 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:52.799 Joseph is a slave in Potiphar's house. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:25:03.680 If he conceives with Potiphar's wife, those children belong to Potiphar, and they belong to his wife. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:06.640 They are no longer children of the promise. 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:08.559 They are children of another family. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:14.000 Joseph is simply put to shame, and his lineage are literally cut off from him. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:16.480 He is utterly consumed. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:27.839 Now, because we're so bad at thinking of sexual morality in the true patterns of existence, those things where people come from, isn't that insane? 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:29.759 People come from other people. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.559 We should just take a step back and think, wow. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:34.799 Like all the time. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:43.599 And instead, we think, no, sex is just about my own self-expression, and it's this arbitrary act. 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:48.319 And so any restraint on it is just an arbitrary thing. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:51.440 No, we're talking kings in successions. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:54.880 That's from the Lion King, and I think about it all the time. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:57.440 Scar, the scar song. 00:25:57.599 --> 00:25:58.640 Be prepared. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:01.920 It's a prophetic message. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:15.279 These lineages are part, they're participating in the reality of the sexual morality here. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:27.200 And so we can see it, of course, plainly at this psychological level, where we see the man who is constantly going to the strange woman. 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:43.279 We see even the way that pornography impacts the masculine psyche is a disintegration of our honor. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:50.240 Is there anything more seductive that says you can be the tyrant? 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:57.920 Type what you'd like to see, and we will perform it for you, and you will face no repercussions. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:11.279 Solomon, in his harem of thousands of concubines, did not hold such power, such appeal to the tyrannical heart of the man. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:14.160 And yet we see what does it end in? 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:15.119 Just destruction. 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:18.480 You know, I was an RA resident advisor. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:19.759 It's on my resume. 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:26.319 At uh CU Boulder in Farrand, the coolest dorm. 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:28.480 I I'm lying. 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:31.359 I lived in Farrand my freshman year. 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:33.119 I was never an RA in Farrand. 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:37.440 But I have to mention Farrand for those of you that went to CU because that's the coolest dorm and I lived there. 00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:41.039 I was an RA in Cheyenne Rappaho. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:48.400 And uh yeah, most RAs grow up to uh to join the clergy. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:49.680 We love rules. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:58.960 And I was in the basement and only uh boys lived in the basement. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:04.319 Um at CU it's boys and girls all live together in the same hall, Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:08.640 And uh, but in the basement it was just just guys. 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:12.480 And I would watch this happen. 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:21.200 Where for the the first time in many of these kids' lives, uh they had a room with privacy. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:28.240 And that room with privacy, uh they were taken over by the power of the internet and what they had access to. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:40.160 Six weeks in, it was incredible the depths of depression that they so quickly fell into. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:46.960 And the pattern was clear, they had been consumed. 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:50.880 There was no part of themselves. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:58.160 So the the stakes are real here. 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:00.960 The stakes are real. 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:08.079 So we need to understand the asymmetry of the way that these things, the way that these things work. 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:29.440 I've talked a lot about the masculine side of this, even though we're talking about Potiphar's wife, but it's it's worth noting that the consumption and possession that seems available in this ordinary pattern of feminine desire results in uh there is no real possession there. 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:34.480 And it becomes a more total and more complete insecurity. 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:45.519 Because we see the biblical pattern laid out even in the very beginning, in Genesis 2. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:56.960 And then we see it unfold in Genesis three, this good pattern of Adam being the head for Eve. 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:14.160 And then in Genesis three, it is inverted in this way where it says, Her desire will be for her husband, and he will rule over you. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:19.279 Don't you see how how this is the pattern that is playing out? 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:37.759 That same pattern of language that's used to describe her desire will be for you, will be for her husband, is mirrored just in the next chapter when God is speaking to Cain, and he says, sin's desire is for you. 00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:42.640 It is a devouring, possessive desire. 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:47.759 Because look, if he's going to act like a tyrant towards you, then you need to make yourself safe. 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:51.039 So you put yourself in the position of power that you have. 00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:56.240 I will seduce and own. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:08.400 There is a clear masculine power in the tyrant. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:12.240 But there is a feminine power in seduction. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:18.960 The Bible treats both of these realities. 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:24.960 We see them relayed in these stories. 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:31.599 This is part of why you have to read Judah's story and this story next to each other. 00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:33.839 They interpret one another. 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:36.960 Okay, so what does Joseph do? 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:43.839 Well, thankfully, and like for the first time ever in our story, one of the people in the chosen family is admirable. 00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:45.200 This is great. 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:49.200 He follows the proverb in 39, verses 8 through 9. 00:31:49.279 --> 00:32:00.400 But he refused and said to his master's wife, Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:09.119 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:11.359 He might have said, Remember. 00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:20.000 How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against Potiphar? 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:24.720 No, but sin against God. 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:29.599 Okay, let's slow down and listen to Joseph's reasons. 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:35.119 Reason number one, my master has no concerns in this house. 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:38.640 He has put everything in my charge. 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:44.799 Reason two, he is not greater in this house than me. 00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:51.119 He has kept back nothing from me except for one thing. 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:55.599 He has kept back nothing except for one thing. 00:32:55.759 --> 00:32:56.799 That's you. 00:32:57.599 --> 00:33:02.640 Don't you hear how these reasons are pretty neutral? 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:14.000 To a lesser man, these could very well be reasons why he would say to Potiphar's wife, Yeah, you're probably right, it's a good idea. 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:15.599 Got everything else. 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:20.720 I'm the one who brought success to this house, not Potiphar. 00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:23.359 This should be my house. 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:29.759 There's only one thing that makes this not my house, the one thing that he has kept back from me. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:31.599 Why has he kept it back from me? 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:34.000 Because I'm a slave, I shouldn't be a slave. 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:36.960 It was my brother's betrayal that made me this slave. 00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:40.720 In fact, I should be a great man in this house. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:43.759 And there's one thing keeping me from that, it's you. 00:33:47.680 --> 00:34:11.119 And yet, for Joseph, these very reasons of the Lord's goodness towards him become reasons to honor the Lord, to remain steadfast, because he's making the appropriate calculus. 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:14.000 The Lord has given me everything. 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:15.679 He's given me everything. 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:19.760 What is it for me then to not take one thing? 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:21.280 I can spare one. 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:22.159 Who am I? 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:24.639 I don't even deserve to have all of this. 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:26.880 One thing, that's no big deal. 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:30.400 Oh, but how we see this pattern throughout the scriptures. 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:32.400 Adam and Eve in the garden, remember? 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:34.400 It's the same book, Genesis. 00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:37.360 All that you see. 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:40.320 You know, this is a Lion King warning, so I'll say it. 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:43.760 Everything the light touches. 00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:48.639 And then Adam and Eve are like, well, what about that dark, shadowy tree? 00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:52.480 To which God replies, you must never go there. 00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:56.400 And it's one thing, right? 00:34:56.559 --> 00:34:57.360 It's just one thing. 00:34:57.519 --> 00:35:01.280 They have the whole world, everything provided for them, perfectly in the presence of the Lord. 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:03.840 And God says, just don't take that one thing. 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:05.840 Ah, but it was not enough. 00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:11.360 Just the simple idea that there was one thing which they did not possess. 00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:14.639 It was not enough. 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:17.119 They had to be over the Lord. 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:23.599 Potiphar's wife owns every aspect of Joseph. 00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:25.760 Except for one. 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:28.239 It was not enough. 00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:30.960 She had to have every aspect of Joseph. 00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:36.159 Do you see how Joseph makes the humble and true calculus? 00:35:38.639 --> 00:35:44.719 And because he sees, look at the goodness of the Lord to me in this story. 00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:49.360 These things that he has brought me, the level to which he has brought me to. 00:35:49.519 --> 00:35:52.079 There's only one thing which he has withheld from me. 00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:55.760 It is more than his right to do so. 00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:02.320 And because of that, he's saying, look at the goodness of the Lord. 00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:09.039 A goodness that's even being demonstrated to me through your husband. 00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:23.360 How is it that I could not choose to continue living in the Lord's story, calling good what he calls good, rather than sinning against the Lord? 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:25.840 It would be a great wickedness. 00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:31.199 A wickedness at the scale of the goodness that he has shown to me. 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:46.079 So she persists and she's continually pursuing Joseph, you know, thinking, maybe I can just kind of wear him down over time. 00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:49.199 Then one day she decides, all right, it's time to take some action. 00:36:49.519 --> 00:37:05.039 Verses 11 through 12, but one day, this is the day I was talking about, when he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was in, was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me. 00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:11.599 But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 00:37:12.159 --> 00:37:14.320 Proverbs 5, verse 8. 00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:16.320 Keep your way far from her. 00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:19.280 Do not go near the door of her house. 00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:21.760 Look, this is not cowardice. 00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:23.760 This is the right move. 00:37:24.400 --> 00:37:32.559