Rachel’s first son Joseph landed into trouble with his own brothers for both his words/dreams and Jacob’s favouritism. Ultimately, the sons of Jacob grew tired of him, tried to kill him but ended up selling their own brother as a slave. Reuben had tried to rescue Joseph but it didn’t work. Far away in Egypt, Joseph’s new owners sold him to Potiphar, the captain of the guard. Even in slavery, Joseph prospered and the Lord was with him. When his master saw that the presence of Joseph was the trigger of all his blessing, “he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.” (Genesis 39:5-6a). The Bible doesn’t miss the details of Joseph’s physical appearance: Joseph was well-built and handsome. He probably had sixpacks, heavy muscles, about six feet, and had a face that glowed. These physical features attracted the wife of Potiphar. Since the Bible did not give her name, we will refer to her as Mrs. Potiphar. Of all the blessings that Joseph brought to the household of his master, Mrs. Potiphar only saw his body and his face. She started fantasizing about Joseph, daydreaming about what such a well-built man can offer her emotionally and ignored the fact that she was fully married to one of the powerful men in the land. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” (Genesis 39:6b-7) When Mrs. Potiphar couldn’t keep her adulterous feelings to herself, she opened up to Joseph. Genesis 39:6b-7 records that “Joseph was well-built and handsome and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” Mrs. Potiphar did not care about the consequences of her action. She is the perfect description of the adulterous wife described by Solomon in Proverbs: “This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.” (Proverbs 30:20) “For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.” (Proverbs 5:3-6) Joseph, a man who feared God, and with full knowledge of the consequences of such an adulterous relationship told Mrs. Potiphar, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9b). When Mrs. Potiphar saw that Joseph would not give in, she initiated plan B, to force Joseph to sleep with her. So when the opportune time came, when Joseph was all alone with her in the house “she caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” (Genesis 39:12). The enraged and shamed woman proceeded to initiate an evil plan C. Mrs. Potiphar lied against Joseph and that ultimately took Joseph to Prison (see Genesis 39: 13-20). What she missed was that even in prison “the Lord was with him [Joseph]; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden” (Genesis 39:21). Joseph left the prison as a prime minister of Egypt. If Mrs. Potiphar was alive, she would have bowed to Joseph and paid him homage. The evil she cooked backfired and God turned it around for good. There are many types of Mrs. Potiphar in our societies. Such women ignore the fact that marriage is to be kept holy. They move about as busy bodies causing aimless young men who are greedy for money to fall into their traps. Mrs. Potiphar type of women are careless and their major desire is to be satisfied in bed. They don’t understand risk and will do everything possible to have extramarital affairs. They could be married to the most powerful men in society but their insatiable sexual desires are never satisfied by their husbands. They maintain a very high standard of satisfaction and these young men are sometimes forced to take unhealthy aphrodisiacs in order to satisfy the cravings of such women. Dear young man, stay away from married women. Dear young woman, no married man is good for you. Don’t be a home breaker. Even if they promise you enough money and a very good lifestyle, know that they are dragging you to hell. Joseph stood the test of integrity, he suffered momentarily but was ultimately vindicated. If you fail to control your actions, your actions will drag you to a very bad place. Hell is real!
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