Joseph: Personal Integrity
For the last two months we have been on a journey through the book of Genesis learning lessons for leading our lives as Christians. For the final three weeks of this series we will be looking at the life of Joseph. Joseph was his father Jacob’s favorite son, because he was the child of Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel. If you ever went to Sunday school or saw the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, you know that Jacob gave his son Joseph a coat of many colors that made it clear to all his brothers that Joseph was the favored son. Joseph didn’t help matters by telling his brothers about two dreams he had that suggested one day all his brothers would bow down to him.
October 30, 2011
Genesis 39:1-23, Joseph: Personal Integrity
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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The sibling rivalry and parental favoritism were too much and most of the brothers would’ve killed Joseph, if not for the intervention of Reuben the oldest son. Rather than have their brother’s blood on their own hands, they sold Joseph to a hairy bunch of Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver and the Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt. That is where we pick up the story in Genesis 39:1-23.
“Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 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; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate. Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. 7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” 10 And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. 11 One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, 12 she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; 15 and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” 16 Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; 18 but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” 19 When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.”
Regardless of the hardship he faced – rejected by his brothers, sold into slavery, his future looking bleak, Joseph displays great personal integrity throughout the events that unfold in Genesis 39. We’re told multiple times that the Lord was with Joseph. He is made overseer of his master Potiphar’s house and carries out all his responsibilities with diligence and the Lord blesses what he does. Businessman Warren Buffet says, “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” Joseph has all three: integrity, intelligence, and energy. He doesn’t steal or take advantage of his position to commit any illegal acts or corruption.
Joseph’s life of integrity and blessing was evident even to his Egyptian boss. In the same way, if we live lives of integrity and faith it will be evident to those around us. Everything is going so well under Joseph’s leadership that Potiphar “had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.” Potiphar didn’t have concern for or pay attention to his wife. She started looking at Joseph who was young, handsome, and successful and she wanted him. Joseph displays the utmost personal integrity in totally rejecting her advances and strives to remind her of his responsibility and commitment to Potiphar, her relationship to her husband, and tells her that to commit adultery is “a great wickedness and a sin against God.”
Throughout most of human history and certainly recent history, we have seen example after example of people in the public eye who lacked Joseph’s personal integrity and as a result lost respect, reputation, admiration, position, authority, and influence. Some are athletes or actors who become cultural punch lines like Tiger Woods and Charlie Sheen. There is a seemingly always growing list of politicians who are lacking in personal integrity. There was former Senator John Ensign who was accused of seducing his close friend’s wife and former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer patronizing prostitutes while prosecuting prostitution rings. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had an affair with someone on his house staff, and Jonathan Edwards was unfaithful to his wife while she was being treated for cancer. That’s two Democrats and two Republicans so I don’t want to hear any grief from anyone that I’m being biased. It doesn’t mean these individuals are completely bad people or that they never did any good, rather it shows how powerful people with a great deal to lose still fail, as do many ordinary men and women who risk not the same level of scrutiny or financial fall out but still jeopardize the stability and strength of their marriage and family as well as their own reputation and self-respect. Pastors, priests, and church leaders have been guilty of the same failure of personal integrity.
If you look carefully at these verses from Genesis 39 Joseph presents us with a model to follow in maintaining personal integrity. Here is where it starts,
“But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
First of all, Joseph thinks immediately beyond himself. Many failures of personal integrity begin with selfishness that doesn’t think about or concern it self with the consequences for other people. Joseph thinks of Potiphar and what it would do to him to have his most dedicated servant and the leader of his household commit such an act of betrayal with his wife. Joseph thinks about his relationship with God and being true to his convictions, and he reminds Potiphar’s wife that what she is asking him to do is a “great wickedness and a sin against God.” This is a far cry from, “If it feels good, do it.” Being men and women of integrity, means avoiding selfishness and always thinking of the consequences our behavior will have for other people.
Next in verse 10 we’re told, “And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her.” Not only does Joseph immediately think beyond himself and stand by his convictions, when he realizes he is facing an almost daily potential temptation or threat that might cause him to sacrifice his personal integrity, secondly he takes steps to avoid danger. On the old TV show Lost in Space there was a robot that used to warn, “Danger, Will Robinson.” We may not have a robot to warn us of danger, but we have the Lord. Joseph seeks to avoid danger, not only will he not lie with her, Joseph does all he can in his power to not even “be with her.” Many people “play with fire” when it comes to situations like Joseph faces. They keep communicating with someone, keep texting, chatting on Facebook, sending emails, calling, or seeing someone even though they know it is wrong and it is leading further down a path that is destructive. I don’t think Joseph confirmed Potiphar’s wife’s friend request. He is blocking her. The whole fifth chapter of the Book of Proverbs is about people like Potiphar’s wife. It says in part, “For the lips of a loose woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; 4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol. 6 She does not keep straight to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. 8 Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house; 9 or you will give your honor to others, and your years to the merciless, 10 and strangers will take their fill of your wealth, and your labors will go to the house of an alien.” While Proverbs speaks of a woman like Potiphar’s wife, we know that men and women can be equally guilty of sinning in this way.
Joseph is following the advice in Proverbs. We are wise to do so also. Unfortunately, one day Potiphar’s wife grabs Joseph’s garment and when he refuses her demand and flees, she then accuses of him of the very thing he has refused to do. A third thing we learn about integrity from Joseph is that sometimes we can still be falsely accused of wrongdoing, we might even lose our job, but if we have our integrity we still have something that is very valuable and will serve us well in the long run.
For a time Jill’s dad used to carry a silver dollar in his pocket. He used it as a teaching tool with high school students he worked with and he would say, “A silver dollar is 90% pure silver, try to have as much integrity as a silver dollar. When you make your decisions with 90% honesty and integrity, you can be sure you’ll make good decisions and give your best. And if you’re in a situation and you don’t know what to do you can still flip it and have a 50-50 chance.” The value of this integrity is now worth around $30 because that is what the silver in a silver dollar is worth today. Like a silver dollar, our integrity increases in value over time. A silver dollar also looks good and sounds good. So does a person of integrity.
Think beyond yourself, stay away from danger, and third, continue to believe in the value of integrity even in hardship. After being falsely accused and seemingly not even being given the opportunity to defend himself, Joseph is thrown in jail. Verse 21 says, “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.” God stands by people of integrity like Joseph, and before long the prisoners are placed under his care and the Lord blesses his work and Joseph’s reputation is enhanced.
How can we maintain our integrity, especially in the area of relationships? Learning from people like Joseph and Job is a good place to start. In defending his honesty and integrity to his so-called friends who keep insisting that Job must have sinned to be suffering so, Job describes his integrity and his faith in Job 31:1-12 (NLT), “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.2 For what has God above chosen for us?
What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 Isn’t it calamity for the wicked and misfortune for those who do evil?
4 Doesn’t he see everything I do and every step I take?
5 “Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone?
6 Let God weigh me on the scales of justice, for he knows my integrity.
7 If I have strayed from his pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin,8 then let someone else eat the crops I have planted. Let all that I have planted be uprooted.
11 For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished.
12 It is a fire that burns all the way to hell. It would wipe out everything I own.”
Listening to the story of Joseph and the example of Job, we may be inspired by their personal integrity, relationship with God, and faithfulness. There may also be some men or women who are thinking, “I wish I could say I was like Joseph or Job, but I have had a time or a moment in my life when I was not, there was a time when I was more like Potiphar’s wife, than a man or woman of integrity.” If that is you, I want to say a couple things specifically to you.
First of all, God will forgive us if we confess our failure to the Lord and avoid committing adultery again. Second, if you are a parent, always think about the example you are setting for your children. Kids learn from everything they see in their parents both the good and the not so good. Anytime our thinking goes along the lines of, “It isn’t hurting anyone, no one else will know,” anytime we find ourselves having to make excuses for our behavior, we have likely crossed a line of integrity that we are better off not crossing. Those who have crossed it know there is a weight of guilt and shame that is not pleasant to bear.
Eugene Peterson, wrote, “Repentance is not an emotion, not feeling sorry for your sins. It is a decision that you have been wrong in thinking that you were your our own God…deciding that God and Jesus Christ are telling you the truth….it is a feet on the ground kind of word.” (Long Obedience in the Same Direction)
Whenever you think about your own integrity remember what writer Thomas Paine observed: “Character is much easier kept than recovered.”
There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience.
Word to the Wise by Will Rogers
Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.