And it came about after these events that his master’s wife had her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Sleep with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put me in charge of all that he owns. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:7-9)
The picture of marriage, in the very beginning of Genesis, is one of holiness, love, and covenant connection between husband, wife, and the Lord. It is God’s ideal of what marriage should be and what we should all strive for with our spouse. However, after sin enters the world, things grow steadily darker through every chapter of the bible. By the time you get to chapter 40 of Genesis, you see women treated as property and pawns to further the agendas of feuding fathers. You find terrible practices like rape, incest, polygamy, and abuse, and one gets a sense that God’s design for marriage has been utterly corrupted beyond the point of redemption. From time to time, in the text, there are glimmers of God’s design but for the most part, by chapter 40, this institution created by God has been completely transformed by lust, culture, and the traditions of sinful man.
That is until you come to the story of Joseph in Egypt. In him, we see a young man who still holds a high view of marriage. In Genesis 39, young Joseph has been sold into slavery by his brothers and now lives in the home of Potiphar in Egypt. Potiphar’s wife had designs to sleep with Joseph. Like the previous stories, she was intent on giving into her lust and following the typical practices of that day. However, Joseph would have none of that. He wanted to do what was right because he cared about Potiphar, and because he cared about God. Joseph knew that giving into lust was a sin against God. He knew that the bonds of marriage were sacrosanct, and he was committed to doing what was right, regardless of the cost. Joseph demonstrates incredible character under fire and teaches us that no matter how much marriage is degraded in the eyes of others there are still some who hold to God’s original intent. No matter how much things around him change, a godly man never goes out of style.
Once again, today, we are living in a world where perspectives on marriage and family are driven by culture, tradition, lust, and selfishness. It is easy to look around you as a believer and lose hope because few are willing to go against the flow. Yet, no matter how far society has moved from God’s design for marriage, there are still young Josephs out there who are willing to do what is right and what is biblical. I thank God for those men and women because they give me hope. I see the steady barrage of the enemy against family values and God’s original design for marriage. I hear the steady diatribe of the LGBTQ community and their desire to undermine the truth of all that is holy. I observe a total disregard for the bonds of marriage, even on the African continent, and if I am not careful I will begin to despair. Today, I am reminded that when things look the darkest, this is when the Josephs shine the brightest. We need young men and women today who will honor God by being a light in a very dark world.
