THE CARAVAN of merchants is moving along the banks of the great Nile River. The air is warm and heavy with the scent of lotus and other water flowers. Joseph can smell it as he breathes. Here and there a heron or an ibis darts out of the air, startled by the long line of men and camels. The caravan is on its way to another Egyptian city. How far away is Joseph from the mountains of Hebron, the home from which he was taken! What a different world this is!
The cries and chatter of monkeys can be heard in the palm and sycamore trees along the river. The language of the people José meets on the road must be equally incomprehensible to him. The young man tries to pick up as many words as he can. He better learn soon. He will probably never return home.
Joseph is only a teenager of 17 or 18 years old and already has problems that would frighten many adults. His brothers envied him for being their father’s favorite. They hated him so much that they had planned to kill him, but in the end they changed their minds and sold him to the merchants with whom he is now ( Genesis 37:2, 5, 18-28 ). After several weeks of travel, his owners feel increasingly in a better mood, since they are about to reach the big city where they will sell Joseph with the rest of their merchandise and make a juicy profit. How will the young man do to avoid being crushed by sadness and anguish? How can we prevent difficulties and obstacles from destroying our faith? We certainly have much to learn from Joseph’s story.
JEHOVAH WAS WITH JOSEPH
The biblical story continues. Once they reach their destination, the merchants sell Joseph to an Egyptian named Potiphar. This man is none other than the head of the personal guard of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt ( Genesis 39:1 ). Joseph must feel humiliated at being sold a second time. He is being treated like mere merchandise! There he goes, walking behind his new owner, through the crowded streets of the city between shops and bazaars. He is heading for his new home.
Home is a figure of speech, of course; the place where he will now live is nothing like the home he was forced to leave. Joseph comes from a family of nomads, who live in tents and move from place to place with their flocks. In contrast, Potiphar’s house is like that of many wealthy Egyptians: elegant and beautifully painted. According to archaeologists, the ancient Egyptians liked to have beautiful gardens with leafy trees and ponds with papyrus, lotus flowers, and other aquatic plants. Some houses were in the very center of a large garden and had terraces where one could enjoy the breeze, high windows, many rooms, a large dining room, and quarters for servants.
Was Joseph impressed by such a residence? Probably not. Most likely he was thinking about how lonely he felt. Everything seemed strange to him: the language, the way people dressed and groomed themselves… Not to mention religion. The Egyptians are known to have worshipped hundreds of gods, practised magic arts and were obsessed with death and the afterlife. There was only one thing that kept the boy from being overwhelmed by loneliness. What was it? The Bible answers: “The Lord proved to be with Joseph” ( Genesis 39:2 ). How many times the young man must have prayed to find relief! Psalm 145:18assures us that “the Lord is near to all who call upon him.” What else did Joseph do to get closer to his God?
Don’t let sadness get the better of you. Joseph set to work and determined to do his best, which gave Jehovah good reason to bless him. Potiphar soon noticed. He realized that his prosperity was even greater because Jehovah was blessing his slave. Little by little, Joseph gained his master’s trust, until he was put in charge of everything he owned ( Genesis 39:3-6 ).
Joseph is an extraordinary example for Christian youth today. At school or college, they are surrounded by other young people who are obsessed with spiritualism and are aimlessly wandering through life. It is understandable that they would feel out of place in such an environment. If you feel this way, remember that Jehovah has not changed ( James 1:17 ). He is still close to young people who are loyal and blesses those who strive to obey his rules.
Let’s get back to the story. Several years have passed, and Joseph has become a strong and handsome man. Unfortunately, danger lurks around him, because the gift of beauty often attracts the attention of people with bad intentions.
“HE DIDN’T LISTEN TO HER”
Joseph was a loyal man. Quite the opposite of Potiphar’s wife. The Bible says that she began to notice him and insisted with these words: “Lie with me” ( Genesis 39:7 ). Was Joseph tempted to accept her advances? Well, God’s Word doesn’t say that he was free from the normal desires of young men. Nor does it say that the woman was ugly. Would Joseph look for excuses to give in? His master didn’t need to know about it. Besides, a relationship with the wife of a rich and influential official could bring him benefits. Did he think about that?
The reality is that we can’t know. What we do know is what was in his heart. It’s easy to tell from his response to the woman: “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and all that he has he has given into my hand. There is no one greater than I in this house, and he has not withheld anything from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do this great wickedness and actually sin against God?” ( Genesis 39:8, 9 ). Joseph’s words are clear and direct. The very idea of doing what she asks hurts his conscience. Why?
As he himself said, Potiphar trusts him completely. He has made him manager of his entire household. The only thing Joseph cannot touch is his wife. How could he betray him? But there is something that hurts his conscience even more: the idea of sinning against his God, Jehovah. He knows what God thinks about fidelity in marriage. He learned it from his parents. He knows that Jehovah celebrated the first marriage and that he clearly expressed his desire for couples to remain united and “one flesh” ( Genesis 2:24 ). He also knows that those who tried to break up other marriages came close to arousing God’s anger. For example, the men who wanted to sleep with the wife of Isaac, his grandfather, and with that of Abraham, his great-grandfather, narrowly escaped serious consequences ( Genesis 20:1-3; 26:7-11 ). Joseph knows the principle behind those events and plans to obey it all his life.
Potiphar’s wife does not like what she hears. What audacity! To reject her and then call her offer “a great wickedness”! Still, she is not about to give up. Her pride has been hurt, and that is more than enough reason for her to persist until she gets her way. What an attitude similar to that of the Devil! He too failed in his attempt to bring Jesus down, but instead of giving up, he waited for “another convenient time” to present itself ( Luke 4:13 ). God’s servants do well to imitate Joseph’s example: even though the situation continued “day after day,” he stood firm. The Bible says that he did not give in ( Genesis 39:10 ). However, the attacks were not over.
One day, Potiphar’s wife waits until all the servants are out of the house and lies in wait. When Joseph comes in to do his chores, she grabs him by the garment and pleads again, “Lie with me!” Without thinking, he recoils in an attempt to escape. She pulls harder. He squirms, wrenches free of his garment, and runs away. All the woman is left with are Joseph’s garments ( Genesis 39:11, 12 ).
This decisive action reminds us of what the apostle Paul said centuries later: “Flee from sexual immorality” ( 1 Corinthians 6:18 , New International Version, 1999). What an extraordinary example for Christians! Today, many of us are forced to deal with people who do not care about God’s laws. We cannot allow ourselves to be infected by their attitude. We must flee, so to speak. Whatever the cost.
And Joseph’s determination cost him dearly! Potiphar’s wife is furious and decides to take revenge. She screams at the top of her voice until the servants run to see what is happening. She then tells them that Joseph tried to rape her, but that he ran away as soon as she started screaming. To prove it, she shows them her clothes. When her husband comes home, she repeats the same lie and also blames him for having brought someone like Joseph. Potiphar’s blood boils! He immediately orders him to be thrown in jail ( Genesis 39:13-20 ).
“THEY TIED A CHAIN TO HIS FEET”
Although archaeologists have found the ruins of some Egyptian prisons, very little is known about them. What is known is that they were a kind of fortress with underground cells. Joseph called the prison he was in a “pit,” which makes us think of a dark and depressing place ( Genesis 40:15 ). In fact, the book of Psalms says he was tortured: “They put a chain around his feet and an iron ring around his neck” ( Psalm 105:17, 18 , The Word of God to Everyone ). Sometimes prisoners had their arms tied behind their backs and their elbows bound with a chain; others were chained by the neck. Joseph must have suffered greatly from this unjust punishment.
But the worst thing is that his imprisonment was not short. According to the story, he spent a long time in that dreadful place. Besides, he didn’t know if he would ever get out of there. Days turned into months; months turned into years. What did he do to keep from falling prey to despair?
Again, the Bible answers with these encouraging words: “Jehovah continued with Joseph.” Yes, God was loyal to his servant and treated him with love. ( Genesis 39:21 ) No cell or prison can stop Jehovah from showing loyalty and love to his servants. ( Romans 8:38, 39 ) Can you see Joseph pouring out his heart to his dear heavenly Father and sharing his troubles? Can you sense “the God of all comfort” responding to him by giving him peace and reassurance? ( 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4; Philippians 4:6, 7 ) But that wasn’t all Jehovah did for Joseph. The Bible tells us that he helped Joseph gain the trust of the prison warden.
Apparently, prisoners were given jobs in prison, so Joseph dug in, worked as best he could, and Jehovah blessed his efforts. Gradually, he gained the respect of the prison warden until, as the Bible says, the warden “delivered all the prisoners into Joseph’s hand . . . and he was the one who saw to it that everything they did there was done. The chief officer . . . paid no attention to anything that was in his hand, for Jehovah was with Joseph, and whatever he did, Jehovah made it successful” ( Genesis 39:22, 23 ). What a relief Joseph must have felt to know that his God had not forgotten him!
Life may bring us bitter surprises, but we can face them with faith like Joseph’s. If we pray persistently to Jehovah , if we faithfully obey his commands, and if we strive to do his will, he will shower us with blessings, just as he did with Joseph. In fact, many good things were in store for the young man, as we will see in future articles in this series.