Thread by @ThomasCoutouzis

#Exetweet thread

25 tweets deep.

1/ "It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me." Genesis 39:7

2/ In context, right after Joseph was promoted over the entire household of Potiphar, his wife took notice of Joseph's beauty.

The Hebrew word used for "looked with desire" is "nasa". It means, "to lift up the eyes on".

3/ You can render this in the context as "she cast her eyes upon Joseph in desire."

Joseph was unknown to her until he was raised to a prominent position. With Joseph as the chief steward of Potiphar's home his wife would interact with him.

I want to point something out here...

4/...For Potiphar's wife to have gone up to Joseph so brazenly for sex would mean that she allowed her mind to fantasize about him. And it wasn't long after Joseph's promotion that the lust in her heart manifested in her actions.

This should be a warning to us all...

5/...Whatever you allow into your mind unchecked will soon become reality.

The old adage, "you are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are" is relevant.

Whatever you meditate on, you will become. Potiphar's wife worshipped Joseph's body and craved it.

6/ Sexual sin throughout Scripture is a judgment from God. The man or woman given over to it are subjects of wrath, not blessing.

Sexual sin is worship of the creation over the Creator. Every immoral thought and encounter is a bowing of the knee to sin.

7/What I love about verse 8-9 is Joseph's response:

"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. There is no one greater in this house...

8/...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?'"

For Joseph to have given such a sharp rebuke would point to Joseph having given much thought to it.

9/ He chose decisively beforehand to not sin sexually.

Within the context of her lustful gazes at him I don't think it would be hard for Joseph to notice them. You can tell when someone is looking at you with desire. This probably prompted Joseph to prepare for the inevitable...

10/...The inevitable being a confrontation in which he would have to fight off Potiphar's wife's advances.

Historians place the ancient Egyptians as promiscuous in general except for infidelity. I find that a stretch. If you are promiscuous outside of marriage you will be...

11/...promiscuous inside it.

In the midst of the temptation Joseph kept his focus on the Lord. The believers that surrender to temptation are not focused on God, but self. They have no thoughts of God frowning upon their evil

Notice that Joseph's refusal didn't stop her from...

12/...continuing to accost him daily.

"As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her." Gen 39:10

This is symbolic of the relentlessness of temptation on the believer daily. She continued after him as sin continues to tempt us.

13/ On a side note, Joseph, resisted this one temptation to sin seemingly to its fullest extent and did not sin. It reminds me of Christ who was tempted externally, not internally, to the fullest degree, yet without sin.

14/ In order for Joseph to resist her barrage of temptations would certainly imply pre-mediated resistance daily. He knew she was coming and he prepared himself for battle. He could not entertain one thought or he would fall into the arms of another man's wife.

15/ Temptation is not sin, it is the a hook dangled in front of your face with attractive bait. The bait appeals to your sinful desires. If you forsake it, it isn't sin. If you grab hold of it you sin.

"But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust"

16/ James is showing us that each person is not enticed by the same sinful desires.

"Carried away" (exelko) means "to draw out". It is a hunting term implying a specific bait used to lure out a certain type of animal.

Enticed (deleazo) means "to catch with bait".

17/ Joseph is being tempted to sin in an area that many struggle with: sexual sin. Satan puts out specific bait tailored to draw out each individual.

I am not saying Joseph had committed adultery. He has a fallen sin nature and grappled for purity like us.

18/ Joseph didn't take the bait (although it was tempting) because he loved God more than himself.

Luke 9:23 says, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

That is exactly what Joseph did.

19/ Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into jail for a crime he did not commit. Integrity most often will bring suffering.

One day the entire house is empty presumably because Potiphar's wife had planned this to make her move. The text says, "She caught him by his garment".

20/ Then she says "lie with me." Typically seducers don't use aggressive moves like this. It is typically gentle and subtle.

The Hebrew word for caught used here is "taphas". It literally means "to take hold" of a person or a thing. The word is used in Deut 9:17 by Moses...

21/...who "took hold" of the stone tablets (10 commandments) and smashed them before the rebellious Israelites.

I noticed a pattern that when the word is used to literally grab a hold of something there is emotion or passion with which the "grabbing" is fueled.

22/ I believe that Potiphar's wife was overcome with her lust and she would not be denied her selfish pleasures. In the passion of the moment when she advanced and Joseph refused, she "took hold of" him because she could no longer control her passions.

23/ Beloved, this is how rape and other sexual immoralities come about. Joseph was the God she worshipped and she desperately wanted to fulfill her evil desires. She had no power to deny herself.

Joseph, being the godly man he was would not take the bait and sin against God.

24/ The Hebrew term "nuwc" (fled) is translated in the LXX "pheugo" meaning to flee/escape. In fact, it is translated as "fuga" in Latin which is where we get our English word fugitive. It is a term used to escape danger.

Joseph ran away from temptation into God's protection.

25/25 A believer is a fugitive from sin. 1 Cor 6:18 "flee" immorality uses the same term pheugo.

Beloved if we are to flee immorality or any sin, we have to literally be in flight when temptation arises. We must run to safety into the arms of our Lord who will not turn us away.