Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #6 in Genesis 39, and we will read Genesis 39:4-6:

And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that JEHOVAH blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of JEHOVAH was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

By the way, when we read the statement, “And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat,” it is an indication of the complete trust Potiphar had in Joseph.  He was not checking up on Joseph or constantly making sure he did things right.  He had perfect trust because he saw that everything was working smoothly with the blessing of God upon it.  It was a full and complete trust, just as God the Father had full and complete trust in His Son the Lord Jesus.

We were looking Genesis 39:4:

And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

We finished our last study as we began to look at the word “overseer.”  The Hebrew word translated as “overseer” is Strong’s #6485.  It is also translated as “governor” or as “ruler.”  Let us go to 2Kings 25:22-23:

And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor…

We see that this word can identify with someone that has quite a lot of authority and power, like being made a governor over a province like Judah.  What he had oversight of was quite a lot. 

Obviously, since Potiphar is a picture of God, and Joseph is a picture of Christ, this oversight of Joseph over this house can refer not just to the house of God, the temple, but the whole of Israel can be the house.  It is just like the New Testament church was called “the house of God,” and it represents the whole corporate body.

But here, the New Testament corporate church is not in view.  This is right at the beginning of the era of the New Testament church at the end of the era of national Israel.  Potiphar’s wife will make her false claims, and Joseph will be thrown into prison, and that basically bring us to the end of national Israel and the beginning of the church age.

But going back to our discussion of the word “overseer,” we also find this word translated as “oversight” in 2Kings 22 when Josiah was king of Judah.  They found the book of the Law.  That is, they found the Bible in the house of JEHOVAH, as we read in 2Kings 22:4-5:

Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of JEHOVAH, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of JEHOVAH: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of JEHOVAH, to repair the breaches of the house,

Also, we read in 2Kings 22:9:

And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of JEHOVAH.

Twice it refers to the oversight of the house of JEHOVAH, and that is the spiritual picture regarding Potiphar making Joseph the overseer over his house.  Again, Potiphar is a figure of JEHOVAH, God the Father, and therefore Joseph was made overseer over the house of JEHOVAH, and He put everything in His hands.  So that would be the spiritual picture.

We also find the word “overseer” a couple of times in the New Testament.  Let us go to Acts 20 where the Apostle Paul is speaking under inspiration of God, and it says in Acts 20:28:

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Here, we see the word “overseers,” who are overseeing the flock.  The Holy Ghost made them overseers in order to feed the church of God.  This is Strong’s #1985, the Greek word “ep-is'-kop-os,” and it is the word from which the Episcopal Church got its name. 

It is also used in 1Peter 5.  It is a related Greek word, Strong’s #1983.  It says in 1Peter 5:2:

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

In both places we see they are to feed the flock of God, and that has to do with oversight, or with being an overseer.

Going back to the word used in Acts 20:28, which is Strong’s #1985, it is a word that is also translated as “bishop.”  First, let us look at 1Timothy 3:1-2:

This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

What is the job of a bishop?  It is someone who feeds the flock.  And in 1Peter 2:25 this same word that was translated as “overseers,” except here it is singular in 1Peter 2:25:

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Of course the Shepherd is the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, and He is the Bishop, or Overseer, of our souls.  How does He oversee and shepherd us?  As the Good Shepherd, He leads us by still waters and green pastures, and as our Bishop, or Overseer, He feeds us.

That would be the spiritual meaning of Joseph overseeing the house of Potiphar.  Like Christ overseeing the house of God, he feeds the house.  The house is the flock, the people of God, and it is clearly seen in the New Testament in the role of the bishop who feeds the congregation.  He teaches the congregation the truths of the Word of God, thereby carrying out his duty of oversight.  If he is a good overseer, he would teach faithfully and truthfully according to what the Bible reveals.  So this was the role of Joseph, a great type of Christ.  He is the overseer of God’s house, as Christ is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.  So that helps us explain Genesis 39:1-6 regarding the spiritual meaning.

Now let us move on to Genesis 39:7.  I do not think we will have time in this study to get into it, but I want to read quite a few verses.  It says in Genesis 39:7-20:

And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out. And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home. And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out. And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

I will stop reading there.  Now let us ask some questions.  We saw that Potiphar in the early verses is a picture of God the Father, and Joseph is a type of the Lord Jesus.  Now we are introduced to a third character, Potiphar’s wife.  So this would represent the wife of God, as we try to carry over the spiritual meaning.  Right away, we realize that this wife of God cannot be the elect, the true bride of Christ that consists of everyone who is truly saved.  Why?  It cannot be the elect because she is a liar, deceiver, and a false accuser, and so forth.  There is nothing good in her character, and what we read in this passage is a testimony to her being a very wicked woman and wife.  Not only that, but she is also an adulteress, and not just on a single occasion, but day by day, as it says in Genesis 39:10:

And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

She was a very adulterous woman, and it was not just one instance, but every day she had adultery on her mind, and she thought to commit it daily.  Yes, God’s people are sinful in that we were “children of wrath even as others,” and we had hearts of stone that were deceitful above all things, and we were engaged in spiritual adultery as well as anyone else, but this woman was already married to God, as we carry this spiritual picture along.  The marriage had already been consummated and is an active marriage. 

What happens when we become the bride of Christ?  We become washed of our sins and forgiven of our sins, and that is the bridal gown, the white, pure and fine linen that the bride is attired in, as we read in Revelation 19.  Maybe the best Scripture to go to in order to see that we were once similar in character to Potiphar’s wife would be 1Corinthians 6:9-11:

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Yes, we were dirty rotten sinners, and we must fully recognize that.  However, after salvation we can still sin, but we would be like David in that occasion of horrible sin in our life, and God would make sure to bring His Word to convict us, and we would cry out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

We would be broken before God, and it would not be an ongoing daily life of adultery.  So that is the difference.

This wife of Potiphar, therefore, cannot be representing the true bride of Christ.  Christ is God, and we are married to God, and in Isaiah God speaks of His marriage to the elect, but this bride is not her.  She is not an elect woman here in any way.  So who does that leave?  Could it be the New Testament churches and congregations?  No, because God never married the New Testament corporate body.  He married national Israel,  but He never married the New Testament corporate body.  That is, God had a marriage to the eternal outward representation of His kingdom on earth, national Israel, but He never had that type of marriage with he New Testament corporate church.  When He married Israel, He made sure there was a Law in Deuteronomy 24 for a man to put away His wife.  Yet when Christ came, He rescinded that Law in Matthew 19 because the purpose of that Law had been completed, and He instituted the “new law,” which was really the old Law from the beginning regarding marriage.  But the exception for national Israel had played out, and God put national Israel away when Christ cursed the fig tree, and then the veil of the temple was rent.  So for the New Testament era there would be no possibility of divorce, and therefore God could not marry the corporate church because He would be married to them forever. 

So as we consider all the possibilities, Potiphar’s wife can only be a spiritual picture of national Israel.  She is portraying the woman that is in view in Isaiah 50:1:

Thus saith JEHOVAH, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

Also, we read in Jeremiah 3:8:

And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

God said He put her away for treachery and adultery. 

In our historical parable, Potiphar is still married to the woman, which means this is still the age of national Israel when God’s people were the Israelites, and God still had a relationship with them.  That is why what will happen to Joseph will bring it to the point of the end of Israel.  All the indicators here point to the Lord Jesus Christ’s entry into the world into the nation of Israel, and then comes the treachery, and the constant instances of spiritual adultery against the Word of God and against Christ until Israel falsely accused Him.  Remember the false witnesses that rose up against the Lord Jesus.

Lord willing, we will look more into this when we get together in our next Bible study.