Sermon Tone Analysis

The Eden Blessing: Be Fruitful and Multiply

Joseph has been put into the worst possible circumstances.

Stripped of his beautiful robe, left in a dark pit to die, and then, very suddenly, lifted out of the dark pit only to be sold into bondage and slavery in a far away land.

One can only imagine the pain, the suffering, the turmoil that must have wreaked havoc on Joseph’s soul.

And yet, even in this lowest of moments, “God was with Joseph”.

In the midst of the chaos and darkness of life, God was nevertheless bringing about the blessings of new creation in Joseph’s life.

We must read closely, or we’ll miss it:

“ the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands… the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field.”

Do you see what God is doing here?

The blessing of the Garden of Eden is bestowed on Joseph: “Be fruitful...” and all that Joseph did prospered and flourished.

And, even now, God has remembered his promise to Abraham, Joseph’s ancestor as well.

To Abraham, the LORD declared “all the nations will be blessed through you.”

Even in slavery, God continues to bless Joseph.

Not only does he prosper, but the house he’s in prospers, and even beyond that, the nation of Egypt prospers on Joseph’s account.

Very quickly, Joseph rose through the ranks and became a prominent member of his master,Potiphar’s, household.

A Snake in the Garden

But, just as in the garden, the serpent was not content to let God’s people flourish and prosper.

Temptation slithers into Joseph’s life, as we see the Eden story play out in all new ways.

This time, it is Joseph, and not a fruit tree, that was “a delight to the eyes.”

Potiphar’s wife begins to notice that Joseph is quite handsome, and decides to take him for herself.

Joseph, on the other hand, recognizes that Potiphar’s wife was like that forbidden tree in the garden.

He says, “My master has put everything that he has in my hand.

He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife.

How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

Potiphar, like God in the garden, had been generous to Joseph.

In Eden, God gave to the humans every tree in the garden to eat from.

They could eat from any tree they wanted to, except one.

Likewise, Potiphar had given Joseph everything in his house, “He is not greater in this house than I am,” Joseph says.

“He hasn’t kept anything at all from me, except you.”

What a generous God!

And what a generous master!

Yet, Potiphar’s wife came to Joseph with the same tricks as that serpent of old.

She tried to draw attention away from the abundance and extravagant generosity of the master of the house in order to get Joseph to focus on the one exception.

Despite all of the generosity of God, the serpent tried to convince the first humans that God was holding something back from them.

Likewise, Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to forget the many ways that his master had been generous, and focus on the one thing that was off limits.

Unlike that first couple in the garden, however, Joseph saw through the trick.

Cut off your Hand

Unlike that first couple in the garden, however, Joseph saw through the trick.

Joseph managed to outwit the crafty serpent, speaking in Potiphar’s wife, and to remain faithful to his God and loyal to his master.

But how?

So many times in the story, we’ve witnessed humans come to the time of trial, to be tested by the serpent, and fall short.

Adam and eve, Abraham, Jacob, all have fallen short.

What did Joseph do differently?

For starters, he put up a barrier between himself and temptation.

Saying no to Potiphar’s wife was not a “one and done” thing.

She approached him day after day: this was a daily temptation.

But Joseph not only said “no” but began refusing to even be around her.

He put distance between himself and the temptation.

Here, Joseph provides a good example for us as well.

There are sins that tempt Christians daily.

For many of us, that temptation might be lust, as it was for Joseph.

Pornography, adultery, lustful thoughts, the ancient serpent has many ways to lead Christians astray.

Perhaps it’s not lust, but anger, greed, conceit, jealousy, gossip or slander that is a constant temptation.

To be tempted is to be human, but it is not to be helpless.

Like Joseph, we should seek ways to remove ourselves from situations that tempt us to sin.

If we find that we’re more prone to temptation of lust when we’re alone in the house for extended periods of time, then don’t be alone in the house.

If we find we tend to be tempted more tempted to gluttony when we have ice cream in the house, then don’t buy ice cream.

And if we’re tempted to let anger get the better of us when we don’t sleep well, then we should be careful to get the rest we need.

In the Lord’s prayer, Christ instructs us to pray “Deliver us from evil, and lead us not into temptation.”

This is because Jesus knows that humans don’t do well with temptation.

We should avoid it at all costs, because Satan, that ancient serpent, is crafty and wise, and knows just how to lead us astray.

So we pray for God not to bring us to temptation, and if we pray that, then it is wise not to lead ourselves into temptation either.

So, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, and cast it far away from yourself.

Temptation Mingled with Power

But Satan does not like to be ignored.

And while it is certainly wise to avoid temptation when possible, there will inevitably come a time when we have to face such things.

Despite his best efforts to avoid her, Potiphar was wise and crafty, and she found a way to corner Joseph alone one day.

She grabbed onto his robes, and more fiercely than ever, demanded that Joseph give into her tempting.

It is not insignificant that Potiphar’s wife was among the royal elite.

While temptation from lust, greed, anger, etc. are certainly dangerous, Joseph’s story reminds us of another, often forgotten, tool of the Devil: power.

This is a powerful woman who could utterly destroy Joseph if he were to cross her (and, in fact, she tries to!).

It is this very thing that has lead so many followers of Christ astray throughout the history of the church, and that continues to lead many astray even to this day.

In the early days of the Church, many were persecuted, tortured, and killed for their faith.

The martyrs of our faith serve as powerful inspiration for us, but we must also remember the many who faced such trials and chose to forgo torture and death by turning away from Jesus.

In those days, the Devil’s use of power to lead Christians astray was a blunt weapon, obvious, and easily seen.

This is a powerful woman who could utterly destroy Joseph if he were to cross her (and, in fact, she tries to!).

But, in the 4th century, the Devil began to use the weapon of power in a different way.

Constantine came to power in Rome, and after many years of persecution, Christians finally began to gain a comfortable place in society.

In fact, Constantine himself was converted to Christianity, and he began to take an active role in church affairs.

At first, this seemed like a good thing.

But quickly, many in the church began to realize that it had its downsides.

Constantine and his successors began to use their authority and power to influence church decisions, and many bishops and elders caved.

The threat was no longer torture and death, but a loss of favor with the Emperor, and even loss of their own newfound power in society.

Today in America, we see a similar kind of tool being used against the church.

Christians in the West don’t need to fear torture or death for practicing our religion.

But we do face the threat of social stigmatization and the loss of cultural and political influence.

If we speak truth, we may not face death, but we may face the scorn and rejection of our neighbors, our co-workers, the media, and society at large.

In fact, we may also face persecution from within the church!

There were a great many bishops and elders who had grown comfortable with the perks of conforming to Constantine’s will, and who sought to oppress bishops who spoke out against some of the things Constantine tried to impose on the church.

Likewise, there are many in the church today who have grown too comfortable with our lofty position in culture and politics, and who quickly try to stifle anyone who would speak out against our culture or our government when those things conflict with the teachings of Christ.

And so Satan has wisely mixed together the threat of power with the allure of temptation to lead many astray.

Christians today are faced with the temptation to over consume, to splurge on luxuries, to hoard money and goods, to give in to sexual desires of all sorts, and to place our own needs above those of the orphans, widows, and refugees.

Sin, in these many ways, is alluring to us not only because it promises to gratify our fleshly desires, but also because of the power such things grant us, and the ways in which giving in to such temptations help us avoid such power being used against us.

Leave Your Garments and Flee

So, we can perhaps relate to the dreadful situation Joseph found himself in.

He found himself not only facing the temptation of lust, but the threat of the powerful lady of the house against him.

How should the faithful respond to such things?

The story provides a clear answer by telling us four times: “Joseph left his garments and fled.”

Robes, at this time, often represented ones social status and rank.

The story presents us with a metaphor that represents Joseph once again being stripped of his social status.