Why God’s Chosen People Are Attacked By The Enemy

Joseph is one of the few people in the Bible with very little negative to say about him his early life is a tragic story of betrayal and pain ten of his brothers were very jealous of him this is because their father favored Joseph due to their jealousy they made a plan to kill Joseph instead of killing Joseph they threw him into a hole and then sold him into slavery his father thought he was dead Joseph ended up working as a slave in Egypt under a man named potiphar he did such a great job and worked himself up the ladder while not at home with his family in Israel he did an excellent job in Egypt he found favor in the eyes of those around him but among those eyes were the eyes of an immoral woman Potiphar's wife before I read the story of Potiphar's wife and Joseph I want to quickly read a few verses from Proverbs chapter 5. and if you've never read Proverbs Chapter 5 it's basically a chapter of warning against a specific type of woman a type of woman that Potiphar's wife was just listen to this verse 3 to 6. for the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey and Her speech is smoother than oil but in the end she is bitter as Gaul 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 and then verse 8 to 10 keep to the path far from her do not go near the door of her house lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel lest strangers Feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another just think of how serious and dangerous an immoral woman can be and keep this passage in mind as we look over what happened between Joseph and Potiphar's wife Genesis 39 verse 6 to 10 says so he left all that he had in Joseph's charge and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance and after a time his master's Wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said lie with me but he refused and said to his master's wife behold because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house and he has put everything that he has in my charge he is not greater in this house than I am nor has he kept back anything from me except you because you are his wife how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God and as she spoke to Joseph day after day he would not listen to her to lie beside her or to be with her I want you to notice this she cast her eyes on Joseph other translations will say she looked at Joseph with desire she looked lustfully at Joseph or took notice of Joseph this is the first lesson we should be aware of Joseph had overcome so many different challenges he was betrayed and hurt by his family he was sold as a slave into a foreign land but he had overcome all of those obstacles and he was at a place where he found favor among people in a land that was not his home and just when God had elevated him the devil took notice of Joseph the enemy wanted to present him with a tough Challenge and to really test his Integrity which is where Potiphar's wife came in keep in mind Joseph was a young man full of drive and energy as most young men and the devil thought the perfect trap would be sexual sin Potiphar's wife continually tempted Joseph yet Joseph did not give in to temptation the Bible says day after day she spoke to him but Joseph wouldn't entertain her words let alone her advances so this temptation wasn't a one-off it was relentless day after day he was tested now we will all have to face a Potiphar's wife so to speak in our lives while it may not be a sexual sin there is some sort of Temptation that will repeatedly come knocking that Temptation may be a substance such as drugs or alcohol it may be sexual sin such as in the story of Joseph it may not be a physical thing at all it may be Pride whatever it is we need to be diligent against that temptation we must look out for that Temptation daily Satan will continue to try to lure you away it was a daily Temptation for Joseph and it will be for us as well often that Temptation will happen when we are in a good place Joseph had favor in the eyes of everyone he was an up-and-comer in Egypt it's often when we are in a good place that Satan comes knocking that's because we usually have our guard down when we're in a good place when we're in a bad place we often see our need for God's strength in our life however in moments of success we often rely on our own strengths that's why it's so important to continually remind ourselves of our need for Jesus we need to constantly remind ourselves of the grace God has given us through the cross it's only through that constant reminder that we see the continual need for God in our life and have the mindset to fight against temptation as you may know prodiper's wife ends up framing Joseph for rape because he does not sleep with her Joseph ends up in prison however while in prison Joseph earns the favor of people yet again he works hard and earns a spot at the top of the ladder in prison eventually Joseph ends up before the pharaoh of Egypt and interprets a dream of a future seven year famine this interpretation ends up getting him a spot as second in command in all of Egypt he uses this spot to save his family from famine this includes his dad and 10 brothers who almost killed him and then sent him to slavery he ends up saving the promise of God to bless his father Jacob and the promise of the seed of Jacob who will come and save the world that promised child would be Jesus imagine what would have happened if Joseph had given into temptation with Potiphar's wife he may have ended up in a much worse State he could have ended up dead if caught in the act of adultery he would have never been blessed enough to save his family from famine I'm unsure of what Temptation you have or what Temptation you're giving into however I know that Satan is trying to get you to give in so he can wreck the work God is trying to do but dear friend there's good news Jesus Christ offers us a chance for mercy and Grace turn to the Lord as he delivers you from your Temptation God will see you through Saints let me tell you it's no coincidence that the loudest voices in this world are the voices that stand to discourage you from living a righteous life and to encourage you to indulge in sin yes we live in a world where many different voices are deliberately trying to influence us to pick pleasure over self-control or to pick selfish gain over a life of serving these voices are in the media they are in institutions they are sold to us as entertainment even you see the world desires to give us whatever we want or at the very least encourage us to go for what we want the voices in this world will tell you to look after this flesh but they will mention nothing about your soul they will tell you things like enjoy the moment but those voices will never utter a word about where you will spend eternit