Season 4 Genesis 39: 6-10 (Jen Bay)
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Genesis 39: 6-10
Vs. 7 “Sleep with me”
Vs. 9 “How could I sin against God?”
This is the first time we verbally have Joseph declare he follows God.
Vs. 10 Though she spoke with Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her
how many days did she try to get him to change his mind
Vs. 8 NKJV says, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house
This wording sparks something in me; maybe he is so distant he doesn’t know all that is in the house, including her.
When Joy announced she found Potiphar’s wife's name, I was so relieved.
I needed her to have a name
Zulieka
Brillant, bright and fair
Her name does not imply the dark temptress we always assumed her to be
exact opposite
This actually works for me…
for some reason, when I picture Potiphar’s wife, I see her in a room of loneliness and rejection
What I see all over this chunk of scripture is rejection leads to temptation, which leads to being the tempter, leading to more rejection.
On Monday, Joy introduced the possibility of Potiphar as captain of the guard being a Eunuch.
This feels like a real possibility to me because I wonder.
was Zully a resentful wife?
maybe he was an Eunich
Maybe he was just cruel, but based on how he treated his slave, Joseph, that doesn’t totally add up.
Maybe he was busy. He just did not have time for her
Whatever the reason is, REJECTION IS REJECTION
I want to be clear, we don’t know her story!
The first we hear of Zully is her propositioning Joseph to have sex
Maybe she was the temptress we’ve always said she was
But….
God has me landing here today. The tempted becomes the tempter.
What happened to her? We know something did because, for the most part, women don’t fall into sexual sin for no reason; some do, but most don’t
At some point, the enemy convinced her this was what she needed to do
Was she lonely? Mad at her husband, evil, in a cycle of sin, desperate to feel desired, addicted to satisfying men, addicted to sex-the list of possibilities is endless
We don’t know her “whys.”
There are a lot of maybe’s in this story. But she was broken; she had to be to approach Joseph in this way.
And if rejection in her past is her “why,” Joseph, although doing things didn’t help
Vs. 10 Although she spoke to Joseph Day after day, He refused to go to bed with her
this implies he refused her many times. He wouldn’t sin against God or his master.
refusing, not rejecting, but it didn’t matter
It for sure would have fed her state of mind.
and as will see later, her hurt would turn to anger
Can you relate to hurt turning to anger? I CAN!
Maybe she had been rejected all her life?
Have you ever felt rejected
parents
siblings
a man
a friend
God
all of the above
other
*Journal prompt*
How do you respond to rejection?
Do you act out or engage in things you know are wrong?
Have you ever become the temptor directly or indirectly, causing others to stumble?
I know those are hard questions and could be very painful to answer honestly.
My quick answers
hurt that comes out as anger
yes
yes
In my 25-year marriage, I have had seasons, not days, but seasons of feeling rejected
sometimes it was a
sometimes, it was a feeling
Either way, the same response
truth didn’t matter!
What did acting out of hurt and anger look like for me (an my husband)?
Let’s read Galatians 5:16-26
That’s what it looked like, although I feel like I could add a few
All are distancing us further from each other and God, which fed the rejection mentality. It’s a cycle!
Rejection has always been a dangerous and deep-rooted attack on
the mind
the body
the spirit
It seeps into every part of your being.
causing temptation
especially sexual temptation
and in today’s world, it is harder than it has ever been to resist it.
The world has never been this hell-bent on convincing us that types of sexual sins are not only okay but, in fact, good.
So, how do we resist temptation?
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation, he will also prepare the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
What did Jesus do?
John 3:13-4:17
Jesus is baptized in water
The Holy Spirit came upon Him
He is immediately sent to the wilderness by the Holy Spirit
He fasts, knowing what he was preparing for…the devil
He is tempted 3 times
doesn’t engage with satan until He tells him to GO AWAY!
*If Jesus, who is God, needs the Holy Spirit, who is God, to resist temptation, HOW MUCH MORE DO WE?
On your own rebel Ephesians 6:17-18
Armor up!
We are called to live like Christ
Get right with Him
Confess your sins, ALL sins (today we are talking sexual sin)
starting now, let the Holy Spirit guide you, strengthen you, be the POWER you need to reject the ultimate temptor, satan.
Let's not forget that a few times this season, we’ve talked of the rejection Jesus himself experienced!
Peter denied
John was around last
Where was his family while tried and crucified
He gets it.