Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #11 in Genesis 39, and we will read Genesis 39:17-20:
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.
As we have been going along in this study, we have been seeing the spiritual picture of Potiphar as a figure of God. He was Joseph’s master, and he gave him full authority, and he fully trusted him, as Joseph found grace in his sight. There was nothing but blessing in his house until Potiphar’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and was constantly tempting him to lie with her. Finally, Joseph fled, leaving his garment in her hand, and he got him out.
We saw in our last study how national Israel continually tempted the Lord. They tempted Him in the wilderness and throughout their whole history, and it continued into the time of Christ’s ministry as He walked among men. We went to several verses that indicated they tempted Him, again and again, and that fits in with this historical parable. It is one of the reasons why we can see Potiphar’s wife as a type and figure of national Israel.
Something else that stands out in this passage is what she finally did when Joseph refused her advances, and she had his garment in her hand. She developed a plan to take revenge on Joseph which could have easily led to his death. It did lead to Potiphar casting him into prison. (We will talk at another time about what the prison spiritually represents.) But the wife of Potiphar developed a plan based on lies. When her lord came home, it says in Genesis 39:17:
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:
This was not true. Joseph did not enter the house to see her. It had nothing to do with his presence in the house. We read in Genesis 39:11:
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.
Joseph was tending to his business, and this word “business” is also translated as “work,” but it is translated as “business” in 2Chronicles 13:10:
But as for us, JEHOVAH is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto JEHOVAH, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:
It was the business of serving the Lord that is in view here.
If we go Nehemiah 11, this word is found a couple of times. It says in Nehemiah 11:16:
And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites, had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God.
Then it says in Nehemiah 16:22:
The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God.
This is the business of God’s people. It is the business of the Lord Jesus Christ, of course. It is His main business, and it is the main business of God’s people. This word is also translated as “occupation” in the book of Jonah. Remember that Jonah in chapter 1 is being used as a great type of Christ as God moved Jonah to rise up and flee to Tarshish “from the presence of JEHOVAH.” And that statement ties in with a similar statement made in Genesis after Adam and Eve sinned. They realized they were naked, and they hid themselves among the trees of the garden “from the presence of JEHOVAH.” They are the very same words.
It says in Jonah 1:3:
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH.
It is repeated a second time, but in the additional statement it says, “to go with them,” and that is pointing to mankind. And where can you find mankind? You can find mankind going “from the presence of JEHOVAH,” fleeing His light and going to the darkness.
When Christ was born into the world to the Virgin Mary, in essence that is what He would do. He would join the human race that was actively going “from the presence of JEHOVAH.” Here, Jonah is a type of Christ, and he is fleeing with them aboard the ship, and then the Lord sent the storm. Finally, the remedy to save the mariners on board was given by Jonah: “Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea.” They were very reluctant to do it, but once they saw they had no other option, they did so. It was just like when Christ went to the cross. There was reluctance on the part of Pilot, the Roman governor, to have Him crucified, but God was working behind the scenes to make sure it did happen, and Pilot reluctantly sentenced Christ to die on the cross, and He was crucified.
Here, we see the reluctance of the mariners, but they finally threw him overboard, and he was swallowed by the whale, and he was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, which is confirmation that the storm at sea forcing the matter that he must be thrown overboard had everything to do with Christ suffering three days and three nights, beginning on that Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane, and going to the cross. We know this because Jesus confirmed it in Matthew 12:40: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
I am saying all this to show that in chapter 1 Jonah is a great type of Christ, just as Joseph is a great type of Christ in Genesis 39. The mariners cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah, and it says in Jonah 1:8-9:
Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear JEHOVAH, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
The word “occupation” is the word translated as “business” in our verse in Genesis 39. Then were the men exceedingly afraid because Jonah told them that he had identification with the God of the Jews. They had heard about that God, and deep down they knew he was the true God. It is just like when people today hear about the God of the Bible, and deep down they know that Jesus is the true God, and the Bible is the true Word of God. That is why these men greatly feared, but it is also significant that they asked, “What is your occupation,” or “What is your business?” And the answer was that he was an Hebrew, and he feared JEHOVAH, the Creator of all things.
That was the business of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the business of Joseph in Potiphar’s house. Remember that I mentioned how many times the word “house” was found in that passage? It was found 11 times – 10 times it was translated as “house,” and one time it was translated as “home.” The number “11” is pointing to the demonstration that Christ performed on the cross in 33 A. D., which was after 11,000 years of earth’s history. It was in Potiphar’s house, or in the house of God, as national Israel was the outward representation of God’s kingdom on earth at that time. So these historical events taking place in Potiphar’s house are a picture of that, and that is where Joseph was going about his business in his master’s house, just as Christ had come down from above to be about his father’s business when He entered into the nation of Israel, His father’s house upon earth.
If you remember, Joseph and Mary had traveled to Jerusalem for the feast, and they had lost sight of 12-year-old Jesus. We can read about that in Luke 2:41-50:
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
They found Him in the temple. How else can we refer to that? They found Him in the house of God. Christ was always about His Father’s business, and He was most diligent and faithful in performing the work of His Father’s business. We understand from John 9 exactly what part of His work was, as it says in John 9:3-4:
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
You see, He was sent by the Father to do the Father’s work. What is the work? We read in John 6:28-29:
Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
That is the work Christ had to do while it was “day,” and the twelve hours of the day point to the day of salvation. Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” That is the work that Christ had to do while it was day, pointing to the day of salvation: “Are there not twelve hours in the day?” Then the night comes when no man can work. We have learned that points to Judgment Day, our present time, when the Lord is no longer performing the work of salvation.
So Joseph was in his master’s house and doing his master’s business, but when Potiphar’s wife concocts her lies and testifies falsely against him, it is going to force her husband Potiphar, a type and figure of God, to throw Joseph into prison. And that is the point. It is like when Jonah was asked his occupation, and he said, “I am an Hebrew; and I fear JEHOVAH, the God of heaven.” He was a servant of God, and he was about to do service to God as he was thrown overboard and swallowed into the whale’s belly.
Christ’s work that He was sent forth to do had everything to do with salvation. He had to go to the cross, and He had to die on the cross in order to illustrate to the world the atonement performed at the foundation of the world, as the works (the service to God) were finished at the foundation of the world, but they had to be made manifest, and that is what Christ accomplished with His coming.
That is why these terrible circumstances happened to Joseph, the young man who was such a faithful individual. And yet God had a plan for him, which was not only to bring deliverance to his family, historically, but God had a plan to set him up as a great type of the Lord Jesus. So Joseph had to go through much pain and suffering, and much trouble, and that is what we see here.
When we get together in our next Bible study, we will continue to look at Potiphar’s wife, and at what God has to say about false witnesses.