Genesis

The Book of Genesis.

1. Creation

Who is in charge here?

Who is in charge of everything?

God. He rules over everything. Let's get that clear before we proceed.

What does it mean to rule something?

You speak and it is done.

We see this most clearly in Genesis 1.

God speaks, and things are made.

“1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

God created the world to run on natural patterns. Light and darkness. Day and night. Land and sea. Plants and animals. Man and woman.

16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.

In God’s cosmic order, he established an authoritative pattern of how the sun, moon, and stars would rule over different times and orbits. They exercise a certain gravity over everything on earth. The sun presiding over the day is one simple way to see what it means to have authority.

Gen. 1:26: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God said, I want to make people who are like me. What does it mean for humans to be like God? It means they have dominion. They will rule over all living things, just like God rules over everything. They'll make things, just like God make things.

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image,

    in the image of God he created him;

    male and female he created them.

Men and women were created together to rule together. How do they help each other?

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Men and women help each other rule by being fruitful and multiplying. That is, having sex and bearing children. Making new humans is one way that people can be like God - making life. It's not the only way to be like God, but it's one of the most central.

God made us to fill the earth - that is, to find territory for ourselves. One of the best ways to do that is to have a good woman. But it also means putting in a lot of long, hard work by yourself.

Now we can see this theme throughout the book of Genesis and ultimately the whole Bible: how are men going to fill the earth and subdue it? Are they going to do it in a godly way or a sinful way? Who is going to be in charge?

Now what does all of this have to do with you? What God said here about man and woman in general applies to you. He made you to be like him. He made you to be a ruler and a maker. Some people today deny that - they just want you to obey and they just want you to consume. But God made you to make things and take charge of things.

Key Take Aways

God made us to be like him.

Being like God can involve making things, taking charge of things, and making new life.

Discussion Questions

In your life today, what are you in charge of? Do you have any say over anything?

What would you like to take charge of some day?

Do you think people in general today care about being fruitful and subduing the earth? What would that look like today? For people who don't care, why do you think they've lost sight of this?

How does our culture undermine God's authority? How does it undermine men's authority?

Is there anything that you work on making?

3. The Fall

It's great to be a human being. We get opposable thumbs and gigantic brains and upright posture. We are undeniably greater than any living thing on earth. Pat yourselves on the back.

Some people are ashamed of being human. They wish we could be more like animals. Some don't want to have children -- they would rather raise a dog than a human being made in the image of God - and their own resemblance, for that matter. Some of them don't even want to live very much.

We were made by God to be like him - as little gods, in a way. (John 10:34) But we often don't feel very godlike.

If we're so spectacular, where did all of this shame come from?

Well, part of our great inheritance also includes a curse. Everything in the world now is full of difficulty and pain and death. It's blood, sweat, and tears all the way through. We were meant to be like God, but now men do nothing but work and deal with problems and failure constantly.

How did it get like this?

Reading: Genesis 3:1-3:24

"3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths."

Because we sin and trespass against God's commands, we become ashamed of ourselves. We have enemies around us all the time who are trying to lure us across the line, to lure us to their way of doing things - opposed to God's way. We might be tempted to blur the lines a little bit from what we know God has commanded, to get what we want. Ultimately, that leads to shame, curses, and our death.

You will note that the serpent was technically correct about much of what it said. Liars are very good at using selective truths.

You will also notice that the woman was in the driver's seat here. We don't have anything recorded from what Adam had to say at the moment about the most consequential decision of human history. If he had been doing his job of tending the garden and dealing with the crafty serpents inside of it, maybe this wouldn't have happened.

"8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

You see, Adam has become very self-conscious. He doesn't want to be seen by God. He's looking at himself and thinking about himself. He's no longer thinking about God or his wife or the animals or any of the duties he was given. Sin takes us away from the mission. And we also want to blame other people for our problems. Adam turns the accusation back on God -- it's the woman's fault, and who gave me the woman? God. So we even want to pin the blame for our problems on God and the gifts he gave us.

When we trespass against God's law, we receive a curse. That's the way the world works.

"14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

First the serpent is cursed. There is now eternal enmity between man and the serpent, and all forces of evil that the serpent represents. There’s going to be violence. But there is also a promise of hope for mankind - that there will be a child from the man and woman who will crush the serpent even as the serpent tries to destroy the promised child.

"16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

There is debate over how to translate the last part of the curse properly. But the point of it is this: this promised child who is going to save everything won't come easily. It will be painful and awful to bring about that child, and, to top it off, man and woman just will not get along. Women will want to run men's lives and men will want to run women's lives, and they'll both drive each other crazy. And so it has gone in every generation of humankind ever since, because of sin.

"17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Many men today don't listen enough to their wives. They've trained themselves to tune them out. However, other men do whatever their wives tell them to do, even if it isn't right. It seems like Adam had the latter problem - his wife convinced him to break God's command, and he should have obeyed God rather than his wife. There are many women today who would prefer you obeyed their word over God's.

As a result of sin, it's not just that Adam is cursed with pain and difficulty - everyone is cursed with pain and difficulty. And not just everyone - the land itself. "Cursed is the ground." We are living in a world that man was put in charge of, and that man was cursed, and so the whole world gets cursed as a result. We can't even fathom what a universe without death and futility would be like to live in. It seems like a fairy tale, because we haven't seen with our own eyes what the world was before it was cursed. But because of sin, all we are familiar with now is this world, full of anguish.

"20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."

Man was meant to have eternal life. Every tree was originally given for man to eat. But because Adam sinned, and the rest of us just like him, we can no longer have access to eternal life, and we can't dwell with God in peace, and we can't be like him as we were meant to be.

That is, unless we can find a way to have the curse removed from us, and to restore the way to eternal life.

Now this is what it means to be a man in this cursed world. You still have to live out the mission to rule over the earth, but now that is mission is marked by pain and failure. You might work hard at things and they don't turn out. Our lives are filled with thorns and thistles. Some of them are put there directly by our own sinful choices; other thorns are there because someone else put them there, and now we have to deal with. Many men won't take responsibility for all of the thorns. They just give up. They blame women or God for all the problems. But men who decide to stand up and take responsibility for dealing with the thorns are the ones who get closer to subduing the earth.

Expanded Thoughts:

Speaker or an adult should share a personal story about how he has had to deal with serious "thorns"-- obstacles, frustration, or futility at some point during his mission in life.

Key Take Aways:

The world is messed up. We have to struggle under a terrible curse because of Adam's sin as well as our own personal sin.

People are messed up. Men and women were suppose to work together, but now we're set against each other.

We need to work regardless of the thorns.

Discussion questions:

Where do you see thorns in your life?

If getting married is part of taking dominion over the world, how does that relate to Jesus, who never married during his earthly ministry? (The New Testament describes his bride metaphorically as the whole church. We work together to be Jesus' helpers as he goes about the task of subduing the earth the way man was originally meant to.)

How has Jesus brought the tree of life back to us? (His sacrifice on the tree of the cross bears a kind of spiritual fruit that he gives freely to those who believe, and those who eat of it live forever.)

4. Cain and Abel

Has there ever been someone who made you so mad that you wished he was dead?

Well, that’s sin, for one thing. But it’s a sin that has been common to mankind since the beginning. It’s bad enough that we have to deal with difficulty and failure because of our disobedience towards God. But on top of that, there’s other people out there ready to kill you! Many people don’t think about it much, but violence can break out at any moment. If we’re following Jesus, we need to give up that hatred we can suddenly feel towards others.

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"4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”

You will remember that God promised that the woman's offspring would, at some point, crush the serpent. So it wouldn't have been unreasonable for Adam and Eve to have high hopes for their son Cain as someone who would fight evil.

"2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Sin is always out to get you. It turns brother against brother. It makes us envy that God seems to be favoring our brother more than he seems to be favoring us. We get upset that other people get better treatment than we do. It makes us angry. So angry that we commit violence.

Keep in mind that this anger also had a religious origin. Cain and Abel were both making religious offerings to God. And because God approved of Abel's way of doing religion but not Cain's, Cain resented him all the more. Religious resentments bring bloodshed, when worshipping God should be the thing that unites us. If only we could all worship properly and humbly without getting angry with our brother. (James 3:9-10)

"8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?”

It's not enough that Cain killed his own brother. He lied right to God's face. We might think this is ridiculous, but we also are lying directly to God when we worship and pray to him while also thinking we can get away with our own sins. Cain acted just like his father Adam did but even worse - he took the inheritance of sin to the extreme.

“10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

Cain, as a man, was already cursed to have to work the ground. But he just gained another curse, the curse of having drawn blood. And every murder, every war, every time one man has killed another, every bit of anger, goes all the way back to this sin. Jesus said that when we are angry, we are committing murder in our hearts. That means that we become like Cain. We get even more cursed than we already are. The things we are trying to build will wither a way, and no longer give us its strength.

You must learn to control your anger and your envy or eventually this curse will be on you, too.

"13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden."

Even when God's curse rests on men, he still shows mercy. He gives us protection when we ask, even when we hate and fight our own brothers! God is not cruel like us.

"17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah."

We won't spend a lot of time on genealogies, but this one is important for our discussion. Tubal-cain was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. In other words, he was likely inventing weapons.

23 Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. 24 If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.”

Some of the descendants of Cain took after their ancestor - they were violent men. They killed and took vengeance. They boasted about how great they were at killing. They took their father's sin and they pushed it to the extreme.

"25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”

Even though the forces of evil in this world continually take away the things we have great hope for, God remains generous. He gives new gifts even as others are taken away at times.

You must take all of this to heart. From the dawn of time, man has been set against man. We envy the gifts that other people have, which makes us angry, and when we don't control ourselves it leads to bloodshed. Because of sin, men can't control themselves!

What should have been a peaceful task of subduing the earth is now stained with blood. And as a result to accomplish our mission well, we need to be vigilant - over our own hearts, but also of potential threats that could come against us.

Expanded Thoughts:

The speaker may share a personal anecdote prepared ahead of time about a variety of subjects:

. an experience with anger and violence; getting into a fight; whether it was handled well or poorly

. an experience with someone who took his father's sin to the extreme

. an experience where someone's inability to control sin spiraled out of control

Key Takeaways:

Sin is always out to get you.

We must resist our anger.

We must not envy our brother.

Discussion:

Do you get along with the other young men in your family / your classes / your teams? What are difficulties that you encounter with them?

Have you ever made a rival or an enemy?

What are the sort of things that we might find ourselves envying about our peers?

What are the things that make you mad?

12. The Call of Abram

Some might say it is the story of all God has done in human history to bring about our salvation. That’s definitely true. But it’s also the story of a specific family. God doesn’t just bring about his will through booming pronouncements and fireballs out of heaven — although sometimes that is what is called for. He works through specific people and specific families.

12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God chooses specific people for his plans. Abram had the choice of whether to believe God and set out for a strange land, or stay home in disbelief.

So Abram left his home and came to a land full of hostile tribes and kings who would become his enemies. He was an old man with no sons. How was God going to build him into a great kingdom? He chose to have faith. That’s the kind of faith that we need to have when God calls us to do great things.

“When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”

God promised that Abram’s offspring would inherit the land. He and his descendants would be able to fulfill the dominion mandate: of being fruitful, multiplying, and subduing the earth. The only problem was that he was 75 years old and had no children!

15. God’s Covenant with Abram

Genesis 15: After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

From the very beginning, the nature of righteousness has been believing in God’s promises. God wants mankind to multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it — especially those who trust in him. However, just because God promises great things didn’t mean that it is going to be easy.

“12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

While God’s promises to Abraham would be fulfilled, there was going to be a lot of pain and heartache in the process. Different nations go about conquering the earth and each other. That is how God judges peoples for their iniquity. But he also sets captives free. We should consider how this pattern might still carry on today. Christians have been blessed by God, and are heirs to his covenant promises. But, because of our sin, there are times when the church is oppressed as part of God’s judgment. But because oppressors sin as well, they in turn are also judged, and God’s people emerge with greater treasure.

“17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces [of animals cut in half]. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Now what is a covenant? A covenant was an ancient kind of deal made between a king and a subject that involved cutting an animal in half and solemnly walking between the pieces. The king would promise to bless the servant and the servant would promise to obey the king.  Anyone who doesn’t keep the covenant is cursed.

What’s interesting is that Abraham did not walk through the pieces of animals. Only God did, sending fire and smoke through to represent his presence. This suggests that God was ultimately going to hold up his end of the promise regardless of how faithful Abraham’s offspring would be.

God made a specific covenant with Abraham regarding the land of those sinful tribes. His faithful descendants would possess it. Although Christians may not be promised that land specifically, the general promises of the covenants God made to Abraham do apply to us through Christ. Just as Abraham had faith, we have faith.

17. The Covenant of Circumcision

Genesis 17:  “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

The book of Galatians says that the promises God made to Abraham are ultimately fulfilled in Christ, who inherited all of the world. (Gal 3:16) Galatians 3:29 says, “And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.” Because of Christ’s perfect work, the blessings promised to Abraham because of his faith also apply to Christians because of our faith. Even for those who may not be descended from Abraham by blood, anyone who has faith in God’s promises is following after Abraham in spirit. Because of Christ, Christians will reign on earth. (Rev 5:10) That may or may not take place in this life because of our sin, but that is part of our ultimate hope in the kingdom of God. (Hebrews 11:13-15)

God promises Abraham that kings and nations would come from his descendants. Ultimately, the one true king Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this promise. As Christ has reigned in heaven, these promises and blessings have also been visited upon Christians. For two thousand years different kings and nations have come forth from Christ’s church. In faith we hope the same will continue to happen as long as life on this earth continues. Kingdoms on earth come and go due to sin and judgment, but regardless of earthly victories, Christians have eyes set on the kingdom of heaven which will be eternal. We could never be righteous enough on our own to live up to the demands of the covenant, which is why we trust in Christ.

Expanded Thoughts

The speaker should share a personal story of when they had to step out in faith according to what God had called them.

Adults should share their hope in God’s promises despite how they’ve had to struggle with obstacles — whether in forming a household, or in gaining some kind of territory for themselves, or similar.

Key Take Aways

Abraham’s family is the one that God promised would inherit the earth.

Christ’s kingdom is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s ancient promises.

By faith in Christ, anyone can receive the covenant blessings of God’s promise, and get to be part of that kingdom, on heaven or on earth.

Discussion Questions

Would you like to found a great lineage some day? Why or why not? Why do you think many people today no longer think like Abraham did?

If you like the idea of starting a great household like that of Abraham’s, what are some practical steps you can take to start preparing?

Why does God sometimes give power over to people who are less faithful and less righteous? Why are the faithful sometimes forced to serve people who hate God?

39. Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

God promised Abraham that “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Gen 22:17-18) It didn’t take many generations before that promise began bearing fruit in a big way, especially in the life of Joseph.

The book of Genesis is about the genealogy of mankind — how man was made, how he fell, and how God decided to work through a specific family lineage to bring about mankind’s redemption. The book concludes with the story of Joseph, so we should consider that he is an example of how God .

So what’s so great about Joseph? His brothers thought he was so annoying that they sold him into slavery.

Have you ever thought about how you would conduct yourself if you were a slave? Maybe school or work sometimes feel like that. Think about it. You never know when your freedom might be severely limited in some way. In those conditions, how will you react? Will you be sneaky and try to get away with whatever you can? Will you be resentful and lazy? Or will you be a flatterer to try and win approval from the people who control your life?

Let’s look at Joseph’s behavior. He can provide an example to us of how to remain in God’s favor and grow in authority even while enslaved within a pagan empire. Sadly, that sort of situation may be increasingly relevant to us in our increasingly godless society.

Genesis 39: “Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and 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 succeed in his hands.”

Do you feel God’s favor on you? Do you see the Lord causing all that you do to succeed in your hands? If you don’t see this, maybe you should pray that something in you will change.

“4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.”

Joseph was a slave. It’s never fun to be a slave instead of a free man. Still, in the ancient world, even if you were a slave you still sometimes had the chance of advancement. Consider whatever work or homework you have in front of you. Do you do your work with such excellence and faithfulness that you become entrusted with overseeing others? If not, why not?

“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 because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.”

Already God was beginning to fulfill the covenant promises he made to Abraham’s family. He wasn’t just blessing this young man sold into slavery — he was also blessing everyone he slaved for! Do you conduct yourself in such a way that everyone around you is blessed by God, because of your presence? God doesn’t just bless us. He uses us to bless others.

To be so excellent at what you do that men of wealth and power trust you with everything they have is how you become powerful in turn. However, the more important you become, the easier it is to get caught up in trouble. At this stage, trouble often comes in the form of a woman.

“Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 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, “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. 9 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. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.”

Even though Joseph had become so important, he didn’t let it go to his head. He remained totally humble before God and refused to commit adultery. This would be the ultimate way of humiliating the man who had kept him a slave. But he wasn’t seeking revenge at all.

“11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.”

Here we see false rape accusations are an ancient phenomenon, carrying on to today. While the #MeToo movement has brought the sins of many evil men into the light, it has also ruined the lives of some innocent men who were not given fair trial by the public, slandered by women to whom they’d done no wrong. Careers and lives can be instantly ruined by murky allegations. As such a young man must always watch his conduct around women — not just to protect them, but to protect himself and his own reputation, and to give no one any opportunity to destroy him. Be very careful about spending time alone with a woman who isn’t family.

“16 Then she laid up 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 laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”

Here we see an interesting reversal of the symbolism we saw at the beginning of the book of Genesis. At first Adam and Eve were given stewardship of a garden, and everything in the garden was given to them except for one tree. They were naked, but couldn’t resist the temptation for forbidden fruit. As a result of their they became ashamed and took on clothing. Here, near the end of the book Genesis, Joseph was given stewardship over his master’s household, and given everything in it except for one woman. He righteously resisted the temptation to take her as well, and as a result his clothing was taken away from him.

“19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.”

Sadly, Joseph’s righteousness wasn’t enough to keep him from being ‘fired’ and imprisoned. Likewise, we should keep in mind that in the future our righteousness may not be enough to keep us from enduring false allegations made against us that get us fired or even sent to jail. But that doesn’t mean that God’s plans for us are over.

“21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.”

Joseph remained in the pit for a long time. But he served his neighbor and he did everything with excellence. Can you imagine having a good attitude and working hard while stuck in an Egyptian prison pit? His faithfulness paid off in the end. Pharaoh learned of his ability to interpret dreams, when he had need of such services, and so he won his freedom. Not only that, but because of the spirit of God working in his mind and granting him wisdom, he rose to become steward of Pharaoh’s household, and the most important man in the entire kingdom.

Joseph was persecuted falsely, stripped of his authority, sent down into a pit, only to emerge with insight from God and be given authority over the kingdom. As such his story should remind us of Christ. God found ways big and small throughout history to foreshadow what he would accomplish one day through Christ’s life - that Christ too would one day be persecuted, killed, laid in a tomb, only to emerge once more with new life and be given authority by God over the entire earth. This is how God does things.

“38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

Expanded Thoughts

The speaker should share any relevant experiences they may have had in winning approval before God and men through faithfulness, or enduring a persecution of some kind that derailed (or attempted to derail) their career.

Key Take Aways

The story of Joseph points forward to Christ.

We should be very careful to resist temptations and avoid scenarios that ruin reputation.

Like Joseph, we should seek to serve others with excellence even when we are persecuted or have our freedoms restricted.

Discussion Questions

How should Christians think about rising to power (whether in politics or in business) in a world that can be very cruel and wicked?

How do we interact with the different women in our lives? Do we treat them respectfully? Are there any activities or times spent with them that open the possibility for gossip or slander?

Do you see an area where God might be calling you to? How could you start serving faithfully in the hope that one day you might be set over it the way Joseph was set over Egypt?