Chapter 12.20
Flirting
Potiphar’s wife
Did Joseph know that Mrs. Potiphar wanted to jump
his bones?
Did Joseph wait till nobody was around to see?
Did Joseph secretly enjoy her flirting?
First Word
During my study of Joseph of “the coat of many colors” fame, I was intrigued
with his relationship with Potiphar’s wife.
Skipping all the reasons why he was there in charge of Potiphar’s house,
I just want to zoom in on what happened.
Mrs.
Potiphar
Potiphar was the chief of the Egyptian King’s bodyguard, so he was
pretty high up in society as you might say, and so was his wife. Egyptian sculptures and paintings depict her
wearing fine pleated linen with an ornamental girdle around her waist and on
her head was a head band set with jewels.
She wore gold ankle bands with more gold on her ears, neck and
fingers. She had dark purple lips and
slanted eyebrows heavily lined with dark dye.
You could say she was looking pretty good.
I would venture to say she was probably
pretty spoiled too and usually got what she wanted. This study is about personal integrity; no
matter what the cost. Do you secretly
enjoy harmless unspoken flirtation?
Joseph
Joseph would have been dressed
for the position that he held, probably wearing sandals with pointed upturned
toes, fine linen outerwear with a colorful belt with a portion hanging
down. Being a Hebrew he would have had
black hair hanging down to his shoulders and a clean shaven face; he was young,
strong and handsome, in short, he was looking
good too. [1] He
would move about quietly with his work possessing a quality of integrity that was unknown to Potiphar’s
wife.
The House
Based on the construction of
the time, the house would have had high walls and would include a main
room and an inter garden with trees set in brick tubs; and with connecting
quarters for the servants, stables, chariots, granary with grain bins and a
court yard; in short is was quite a large complex with lots of activity to
oversee.
The Story Begins
Joseph had found favor in the
eyes of Potiphar and was put in charge of everything that he had with
the exception of what Potiphar ate. From
that day forth, God blessed Potiphar’s house and all his dealings because of
Joseph.[2]
Joseph was aware of the overt flirting
that was taking place by Potiphar’s wife and kept a safe distance from her, in
fact he purposed not to go near her for she had “propositioned” him on many occasions.[3]
Then it happened
Joseph certainly knew the
coming and going of Potiphar and his servants. Knowing fully he would be alone with
Potiphar’s wife, he went into the house.
She grabbed him by his cloak and tried to get him into her bed, but he
ran off leaving his cloak behind.
She was angry and chagrinned that he had refused her ovations and
screamed for help to her servants and the results were; he was thrown in jail. The rest I will not cover here as I just want
to address the issue of Mrs. Potiphar and
Joseph.
You
can read it.
Genesis 39:11-20 – Nobody around; Gotcha
11 One day he
went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants
was inside.
12 She caught him
by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!"
But he left
his cloak in her hand and ran out
of the house. When she saw
13 that he had
left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house,
14 she called
her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew
has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me,
but I screamed.
15 When he heard
me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."
16 She kept his
cloak beside her until his master
came home.
17 Then she told
him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of
me.
18 But as soon
as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside
me and ran out of the house."
19 When his
master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave
treated me," he burned with anger.
20 Joseph's master
took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners
were confined. NIV
My Belief System
I spoke out at an Adult Bible
Study class that I felt like this was Joseph’s fault; because as “The Big Kahuna”
he certainly knew that no one would be in the house when he went in to work. In my BS, I felt like Joseph knew Potiphar’s wife wanted
to “Jump his
Bones” and enjoyed the flirting
he received even though it was from a safe distance; it secretly made him feel good.
I went on to quote Proverbs; “You can’t take fire to your chest without getting burned”[4]
and that’s what happened; He flirted with SIN and got burned.
Josephus on Joseph
I encourage you to get your
own copy of the book “Josephus; The Antiquity of the Jews”. Josephus was born in 37AD, just 4 years after
the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. LISTEN to his report on
the subject of Joseph.
Josephus the
Jewish historian speaks: When therefore, there
was a public festival coming on, in which it was the custom for women to come
to the public solemnity, she pretended to
her husband that she was sick as contriving an
opportunity for solitude and leisure, that she might entreat Joseph again;
Which opportunity being obtained, she used
more kind words to him than before; and said that it had been good for him to
have yielded to her first solicitation; and to have given her no repulse, both
because of the reverence he ought to bear to her dignity she solicited him; and
because of the vehemence of her passion; but which she was forced, though she
were his mistress, to condescend beneath her dignity; but that he may now, by
taking more prudent advice, wipe off the imputation of his former folly;
For whether it were that he expected the
repetition of her solicitations she had now made, and that with greater
earnestness than before, for that she had pretended sickness
on this very account, and had preferred this conversation before the
festival and its solemnity. She assured
him that if he complied with her affections, he might expect the enjoyment of
the advantages he already had; and if he were submissive to her, he would have
still greater advantages; BUT, that
he must look for revenge and hatred from her, in case he rejected her desires;
and preferred the reputation of chastity before his mistress; for that he would gain
nothing by such procedure, because she would then become his accuser, and would
falsely pretend to her husband he had attempted her chastity; and that Potiphar
would hearken to her words rather than to his, let his be ever so agreeable to
the truth.
Skipping on down in this report we pick up with Joseph’s words
When the woman had said thus, and even with tears in her eyes, neither
did pity dissuade Joseph from his chastity, nor did fear compel him to a
compliance with her; but he opposed her
solicitation, and did not yield
to her threatening, and was afraid to do an ill thing, and chose to
undergo the sharpest punishment rather that to enjoy his present
advantages, by doing what his own conscience knew would justly deserve that he
should die for it.
He also put in mind that she was a
married woman, and that she ought to cohabit with her husband
only; and desired her to suffer these considerations to have more weight with
her that the short
pleasure of lustful dalliance which
would bring her to repentance afterwards, would cause troubles to her, and yet would not amend what had been
done amiss.
I was married with three children and worked
part-time for a small company, and a young divorcee seemed to catch my eye
across the room; each time she saw me she would smile big and then would look away. It happened a lot and in an office meeting
the boss observed it and told her to pay attention and stop flirting with Paul. I was stunned and so embarrassed; I had
secretly enjoyed the playful attention, but I didn’t realize it was so
obvious to others. This was a COURSE
CORRECTOR for me as I kept my distance from then on. The Book says
to avoid
all appearances of evil.[5]
FLIRTING PREJUDGED
Joseph DID
observe Mrs. Potiphar’s daily FLIRTING and overt propositions and he made it a
point to avoid her. Mrs. Potiphar was
not even supposed to be in the house when Joseph arrived; SO he chose
the consequences of JAIL rather than
to submit to SIN.
So there you have it; in my own BS, I doubted
Joseph’s intention and integrity whereby in my own mind,
I had substituted my own lack of integrity for his.
God help my corrupt judgmental BS
[1] Genesis 39:6 – Joseph was
well-built and good looking; handsome
[2] Genesis 39:4-6 – The Lord
blessed Joseph and caused Potiphar to prosper
[3] Genesis 39:7-10 – Mrs.
Potiphar said; How about a “roll in bed with honey”
[4] Proverbs 6:27 – Flirt
with fire and get burned
[5] 1 Thessalonians 5:22 - Abstain from all
appearance of evil. -- Psalm 37:27 - Depart from evil, and do
good; and dwell forevermore. -- Proverbs 26:23 - Smooth lips with an evil heart are like glaze on an earthen vessel. -- Proverbs 6:23-24- For the commandment is
a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the
way of life: to keep thee from the evil woman,
from the flattery of the tongue of a strange
woman. -- Proverbs 14:16 - A wise man is
cautious and turns away from evil, But a fool is arrogant
and careless.
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