Joseph in Potiphar's House: Faith, Favor, and Betrayal
by Jeremy Painter
October 21, 2026 · Abundant Hope Fellowship, Bremerton, Washington
Kind: Bible study
Scripture: Genesis 39:1-6

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/jeremy-painter--joseph-in-potiphars-house
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Alright, I'm going to attempt, as I said, two chapters tonight and we're going to pick back up where I left off and I know Jonathan went through, I think, through an aspect of 39 and I want to go through and we're probably going to hit different things along the way. Alright, but 39 and 40 is going to be, as with almost every other chapter in the book of Genesis, full of fireworks with tension and there are going to be things that will need explanation and if we pay close attention, there is a great deal of edification and something to live by and live on and see gain some kind of insight into life, from the life of Joseph. Alright, verse one of 39. Now, Joseph had been brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard in Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. Alright, Pharaoh has a captain of the

guard and it's Potiphar and the captain of the guard position might think in American, American government is like an attorney general, somebody who is over or responsible for law and order in the land. And ironically, he can't get law and order in his own household, but that's his job and he would be very close to the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and also responsible for the Pharaoh's security. Alright, and he has bought a slave from the slave traders and this of course is Joseph. There is some suggestion and I think it has to do with the position of the captain of the guard in ancient Egypt. There is some suggestion or historical context that suggests that the captain of the guard would have been a eunuch. And I don't know if that's true or not, but if it is true, it's complicated by a couple things. One of them, he's married and the fact that he's married is going to be key to

the story. But, but take a closer look, look at that marriage. Alright, and there are a couple things that come up that might suggest that indeed that historical note might well be understood here for Potiphar. Alright, verse two, the Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man. He was in the house of his Egyptian master. Alright, verse two, this, this is this, these first few words here are, they can really hit you with a great deal of force. We have just learned from verse one that Joseph has been bought. He's a slave. He's been sold like chattel in a slave market. He's been kidnapped and taken to a foreign land and sold like a piece of meat or a piece of furniture for a powerful man in Egypt. That's what we just learned in verse one. And the very next words of verse two are, the Lord was with Joseph. That's so strange to me to put those two things together.

How can the Lord be with you? In what sense is the Lord with you when you are being sold in the slave market? And yet that's very much the case. The next note is that he became a successful man and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. Alright, his master, verse three, saw that the Lord and that's the use of the divine name there, capitals L-O-R-N-D. So this is that the covenant God was with him. So somehow Potiphar in Egyptian has some insight that this particular Hebrew God, this covenant God, is with Joseph and caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him and made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. Okay, wherever Joseph goes in life, he seems to succeed. But wherever Joseph goes in life also, he seems to get betrayed. He gets let down, though people who are

closest to him betray him. So there's this pattern, whenever Joseph gets really close to somebody and helps somebody out, you know that's going to be the person who betrays in some sense. And so we're being set up here. Again, Potiphar is becoming successful because of this slave that he's purchased. Alright, Joseph found favor in his sight and attended to him. That is, he ministered to him. He made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. He's like oil and water, Joseph is. Wherever you put him, he's going to rise to the top. But the top is what makes him vulnerable. Okay, verse five, from the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the Lord was on all that Potiphar had in house and field. That's an amazing scripture right there. Again, the Lord is blessing or

with Joseph, but Joseph doesn't seem to get the direct benefit of the blessing. He stays in slavery. Who does get blessed? The people around Joseph. That should remind you of somebody. What does Paul say about Jesus upon the cross? He was suffering the curse that was due to us, but God was in Christ upon the cross, reconciling the world to himself. That God was nailing to the cross the sins of many. Alright, so Jesus is experiencing the curse while everybody else is benefiting around him from his suffering. There's a foreshadowing of that right here in the life of Joseph. He is suffering as a servant, a slave, kidnapped, and put up for as an auction block and sold and bought, purchased, and then commanded. And God keeps, does not deliver him from the slavery, but instead blesses everybody around Joseph. Okay, now verse 6 is really important here. 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. Alright, he left, that's Potiphar, left all that he had in Joseph's charge. Alright, let's consider that what it would mean for Joseph to be over everything that Potiphar was over. Alright, Potiphar, captain of the guard, attorney general, for one thing, he would be over the prison system. We're actually going to find that out in a few minutes. Alright, so he's over the security of the nation. He has wealth, he has a household, he has slaves, servants. Joseph has been put over everything that Potiphar had. So Potiphar's elected or appointed captain of the guard, attorney general of the United States of Egypt. But Joseph is the de facto, the actual ruler. Alright, it's sort of like the situation when I was elected to youth president for this district 20 years ago, however long ago. I was the appointed, but she was the one who actually ran everything. She was the de facto youth president. Behind

the scenes, she was the one that made that work. Joseph is kind of in that position. So Joseph is running the prison system. He's in charge. He hires people, he fires people. Alright, Potiphar left all that he had in Joseph's charge and