Genesis 39:2 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian
Most of us want to be prosperous in life. The problem is most of us have not well defined what prosperous actually means. To say it is an individual matter is only partly true, if that. For instance, if I were to say, “Name someone who is prosperous in business,” you could name a lot of people, certainly in this day and country. If I were to say, “Name a prosperous athlete,” all of us would have people whose work ethic and accomplishments we admire. If I were to say, “Name a prosperous slave,” chances are good that you don’t even know a slave. What would a prosperous slave even look like? It sounds like a contradiction in terms, yet that is the designation God gave to Joseph, a man who was sold by his brothers, purchased by an officer named Potipher, lied about by Potipher’s wife, and then placed in prison.
What does the Bible say about Joseph? Genesis 39:1 says, “And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potipher, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and was in the house of his master the Egyptian.” Later on, verse 21 says, “But the LORD was with Joseph.” Verse 23 says, “Because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.”
“Prosper” here means “to advance or to progress.” Many times we use words like progressive when it is not progressive because though it is moving, it is not moving in the right direction. Moving is not progress. Progress is moving ahead in the right direction. Are you doing that? Maybe you have a lot of money, followers, or accomplishments, but that is not what I am asking. Are you progressing and by whose standard? Certainly the answer is not my standard or some sectarian view. It is bigger than that. What you find from Joseph’s account is that prosperity is the presence of the Lord. Here was a slave who was prospering. The way you view progress determines the steps you take today.
You can either have the short view or the long view. Both bear their own requirements. What is the short view of progress? First, it is basically go along to get along. When Potipher’s wife enticed Joseph to immorality, what did he say? If he wanted money or “likes” or advancement in his career in Potipher’s house, he would have gone along to get along. What did he do? He had a long view instead. He realized that prosperity is the presence of God and that moving forward in a good way would simply be to follow God.
So, in verse 8 Joseph refused. Later on it says, “He hearkened not.” Later on it says he left, fled, got out. There is no ambiguity here. Joseph did something that in the short view was not progressive, but in the long view was the right thing. What you chose determines what you refuse. Speaking of people of faith like Joseph, Hebrews 11 says of Moses that he “refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God.” So, you can go along to get along or you can refuse. That is the negative. The positive is to launch forward by faith in the direction God is leading.
Second, a short view of progress leads one to cheat because it is the only alternative. Joseph could have thought, “I’m going to have to cheat. I know the way I’ve been raised and what is right, but I’ve got to cheat because it is my only alternative.” Joseph realized there was a higher standard than Potipher, Pharoah, and Egypt, the highest world power.
In verse 9 he says to Potipher’s wife, “How then can I do this great wickedness?” Who defined this immorality as immorality? Who defined it as a deviation from morality? What is morality? There is no right or wrong if there is no God. There is no good if there is no God. By what standard would you even determine good. It would be simply subjective based on your feelings or the majority opinion at the moment and the place. That is not the long view. Joseph had the long view. Prosperity is the presence of the Lord.
Third, the short view is totally absorbed in self. Joseph was abandoned by his family, presumed dead by his father, humanly justified in any bitterness he may have had, lied about by Potipher’s wife, and misunderstood by everyone else. That is not a happy way to live because progress has to be my being prominent, rich, and accomplished. God is not against accomplishment. My point is there is no lasting accomplishment without God.
What was the long view as opposed to being absorbed by self? It was being wrapped up in God. Joseph says to Potipher’s wife after she tempted him, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Who brought God up? The whole premise for this statement was that there was none greater in Potipher’s house than Joseph. Joseph said, “You are tempting me to commit adultery, but your husband has not kept back anything from me except you because you are his wife. How can I do this wickedness and sin against Potipher?” That is close to what he said, and is what you would except him to say because it would logically be the next step. But he actually said, “Your husband has put everything in my care except you because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
When David repented of his sin of adultery, he said, “Against thee and thee only have I sinned.” Didn’t he sin against Bathsheba? Yes. Did he sin against Uriah when he murdered him? Yes, but David realized that ultimately his sin was against God and that his prosperity was defined by God. With Joseph the road to the palace went through the prison. Joseph was a success even when everyone else viewed him a failure because at the end of the day the long view is that prosperity is the presence of God. The way you view progress today determines the steps you will take tomorrow.