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June 13, 2021
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Please welcome Stuare Sheehan, WHMI President & CEO, WHBI Director, as our Guest Speaker for today.
Current Sermon Series: Plot Twist
Current Sermon Title: Nearly Fatal Attraction
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.The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 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. 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. 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.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 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. 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?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
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, 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. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 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. 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.” Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 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. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”
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. 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. But the Lord was with Joseph… —Genesis 29:1-21a
Three Lenses to Understand
1. The Story (What happens in this section of Joseph’s story?)
2. The Narrative Context (What is unfolding in the larger story?)
3. The Big Story (How does this story help us understand the Gospel?)
1. The Story: Joseph Does the Right Thing (but…)
· Joseph demonstrates his character (v. 1-6)
· Joseph Understands sin is disobedience to God (v. 8-9)
· Joseph gets rewarded (?) for doing the right thing. (v. 19-20).
The Nearly Fatal Attraction is toward Joseph.
2. The Narrative Context: Joseph’s story is a contrast to Judah’s story
· Joseph is thrown down in the pit, taken to Egypt, and thrown into prison (37:24; 39:1, 19-20))
· Joseph is a contrast to Judah (Chapter 38)
· Joseph is suffering to preserve Judah (God is at work, 39:21)
The Nearly Fatal Attraction is toward Judah (the Messianic line).
3. The Big Story
· Jesus leaves heaven to come and save us, descending all the way to the grave (Mark 10:45).
· Jesus’s obedience leads him toward suffering (Philippians 2: 5-8).
· We are not Joseph in the gospel picture, we are Judah (Romans 3:23).
· Like Joseph for Judah, Jesus suffered for us, in our place (Isaiah 53:6; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
The Nearly Fatal Attraction is toward you.