And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
The Lord stayed with Joseph when he was sold into bondage and set to serve in the house of Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer and captain of the guard, and angels prepared his way even as he grieved separation from his father. His becoming a prosperous man was not a sudden miracle but God's blessing crowning his persevering industry, care and diligence, which even his idolatrous master recognized as the secret of his success. That presence rested on the resolve he made when torn from Canaan, to remember his father's God and prove true to the King of heaven, and it won him favor until he was entrusted as steward over all his master owned. Surrounded by idolatry, pomp and vice he refused to hide that he worshiped Jehovah or to compromise with idolaters, but lived out purity, cheerful duty and fidelity so that his conduct itself witnessed to heavenly grace amid heathen darkness. His life shows that unjust suffering, prison and apparent defeat do not mean God has forsaken His people, for Christ watches, feeds and sends angels to those hated, hunted and bound for keeping His commandments, turning even the dungeon into a palace.
Presence and Prosperity in Egypt
The Lord was with Joseph in the house of Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the king's guard, who had bought him from the Ishmaelites, and there he served ten years. Though deeply afflicted by separation from his father and grieving over his father's grief, he was not left to go into Egypt alone, for angels prepared the way for his reception and the Lord stayed with him. That abiding presence brought visible prosperity and favor with his master.
The presence rested upon the resolve made in the crisis of the journey from his childhood home in Canaan to bondage, when looking for the last time on the hills that hid his kindred's tents he remembered his father's God and the lessons of his childhood and determined to prove true as a subject of the King of heaven. His being a prosperous man was not a direct miracle but God's blessing crowning his persevering industry, care, energy, diligence and thoughtful thoughtfulness. He credited his success to God's favor, and even his idolatrous master accepted that as the secret of his prosperity.
That presence gave him favor and daily increased Potiphar's confidence until he was promoted to steward with full control over all his master possessed. Potiphar entrusted all he had to Joseph's care and left in his own hand only the bread or food he ate, because it was an abomination for a Hebrew to prepare food for an Egyptian. God's presence and guardianship remained with him in the Egyptian household and was evident in his prosperous life.
Amid the corruption of a heathen court God gave him grace to stand and supplied the spiritual life that bore fruit in his conduct. He looked to the Lord as friend and protector, and God watched his course and strengthened him to preserve integrity even when enslaved, falsely accused, and deprived of liberty, name and reputation. His goodness and excellence of character came from God and not from himself, for his righteousness was the righteousness of Christ.
Faithful Witness Among Idolaters
In the bitter life of a stranger and slave, Joseph did not answer exile and injustice with gloom or self-pity but diligently and cheerfully carried out his assigned tasks and sought the good of those he served. Surrounded by idolatry, royal pomp, wealth, culture and vice, amid the sights and sounds of vice and the allurements of heathen worship, he preserved simplicity, purity and fidelity to God and stayed steadfast in obedience to duty. His purity, faithfulness and truth to God held firm amid idolatry even in the lowliest station.
He refused to conceal his principles or hide that he was a worshiper of Jehovah in order to gain Egyptian favor, knowing that concealment would lead to being overcome by temptation. He bore his religious faith and his name as a worshiper of the living God as a special honor and never compromised with idolaters. Faithful principles thus lived out in a foreign setting became a witness through conduct and not only through words.
In prosperity, when God made him a prosperous man, and in adversity he honored God, and God honored him. Faithfulness in the lowliest station trained every power for highest service. His loyalty to God and close connection with Him brought him wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
His firm, unswerving principle was founded on dwelling upon themes of eternal interest. Above all he dwelt upon Christ bearing the sins of the world at Calvary and enduring shame, scourging, insult, mockery and the hiding of His Father's face to reconcile fallen man to God and rescue from endless death. Such dwelling strengthens the mind, develops character, keeps conversation in heaven from whence the Saviour is looked for, makes vain thoughts seem out of place, rejects foolish jesting and joking, and is the secret of growth in grace and in knowledge of the truth in the infinite love of Him who died.
God was glorified by his faithfulness. His purity and uprightness stood in marked contrast to idol worshipers, letting his character display heavenly grace. In that way heavenly light shone amid heathen darkness.
Pattern for God's People
Joseph in Egypt stands as a youth worthy of imitation for all who are forming characters that will stand the test of judgment. His life there was probationary time in which he was tried and proved, and because he stood firm to principle he became a representative man and a pattern of integrity. Together with Samuel, Daniel and Daniel's companions, his record shows what is expected of children and youth. Character is a personal responsibility that no professor or teacher can make for another, for each person decides his own eternal destiny. This present life is the only opportunity to stand the test and proving, with no second probation.
Though taken captive, he was put in Egypt by providence to carry to heathen nations the blessings that come through knowledge of God. He was to be a representative of Jehovah, never compromising with idolaters but bearing his religious faith and his name as a worshiper of the living God as a special honor. In prosperity, when he was made a prosperous man, and in adversity he honored God, and God honored him. His loyalty and close connection with God brought honor to God, who gave him wisdom, knowledge and understanding. His place in Egypt is what every Seventh-day Adventist institution and sanitarium is to be to the world.
His prospering while serving in an Egyptian household led to his being entrusted with great responsibility. His later unjust suffering for doing right and his imprisonment did not mean he had been forsaken or abandoned or forgotten. His life was ordered by Providence, and his trust in God and uprightness carried him through trials with signal victories despite apparent defeat. He came out of prison to share Egypt's rule, showing that difficult circumstances do not mean God has forgotten His own.
That abiding presence proves God will not forget His people in the trying hour when they are hated, hunted, bound in chains, shut in prison, sentenced to death and left without human help. When commandment-keepers flee to desolate places and mountains and are cast into unjust and cruel bondage, Christ, who bought them with His blood, cannot forsake those precious to Him. One above all earthly powers sees every weakness and knows every trial. Though they suffer privation and lack food while judgments fall, and are left to starve in dark dungeons, they are not left to perish but are given food and water. Angels will come to lonely cells bringing light and peace from heaven, so dungeon walls cannot cut off communion between their souls and Christ and the prison becomes as a palace.
The Lord stayed with Joseph when he was sold into bondage and set to serve in the house of Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer and captain of the guard, and angels prepared his way even as he grieved separation from his father. His becoming a prosperous man was not a sudden miracle but God's blessing crowning his persevering industry, care and diligence, which even his idolatrous master recognized as the secret of his success. That presence rested on the resolve he made when torn from Canaan, to remember his father's God and prove true to the King of heaven, and it won him favor until he was entrusted as steward over all his master owned. Surrounded by idolatry, pomp and vice he refused to hide that he worshiped Jehovah or to compromise with idolaters, but lived out purity, cheerful duty and fidelity so that his conduct itself witnessed to heavenly grace amid heathen darkness. His life shows that unjust suffering, prison and apparent defeat do not mean God has forsaken His people, for Christ watches, feeds and sends angels to those hated, hunted and bound for keeping His commandments, turning even the dungeon into a palace.
Presence and Prosperity in Egypt
The Lord was with Joseph in the house of Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the king's guard, who had bought him from the Ishmaelites, and there he served ten years. Though deeply afflicted by separation from his father and grieving over his father's grief, he was not left to go into Egypt alone, for angels prepared the way for his reception and the Lord stayed with him. That abiding presence brought visible prosperity and favor with his master.
The presence rested upon the resolve made in the crisis of the journey from his childhood home in Canaan to bondage, when looking for the last time on the hills that hid his kindred's tents he remembered his father's God and the lessons of his childhood and determined to prove true as a subject of the King of heaven. His being a prosperous man was not a direct miracle but God's blessing crowning his persevering industry, care, energy, diligence and thoughtful thoughtfulness. He credited his success to God's favor, and even his idolatrous master accepted that as the secret of his prosperity.
That presence gave him favor and daily increased Potiphar's confidence until he was promoted to steward with full control over all his master possessed. Potiphar entrusted all he had to Joseph's care and left in his own hand only the bread or food he ate, because it was an abomination for a Hebrew to prepare food for an Egyptian. God's presence and guardianship remained with him in the Egyptian household and was evident in his prosperous life.
Amid the corruption of a heathen court God gave him grace to stand and supplied the spiritual life that bore fruit in his conduct. He looked to the Lord as friend and protector, and God watched his course and strengthened him to preserve integrity even when enslaved, falsely accused, and deprived of liberty, name and reputation. His goodness and excellence of character came from God and not from himself, for his righteousness was the righteousness of Christ.
Faithful Witness Among Idolaters
In the bitter life of a stranger and slave, Joseph did not answer exile and injustice with gloom or self-pity but diligently and cheerfully carried out his assigned tasks and sought the good of those he served. Surrounded by idolatry, royal pomp, wealth, culture and vice, amid the sights and sounds of vice and the allurements of heathen worship, he preserved simplicity, purity and fidelity to God and stayed steadfast in obedience to duty. His purity, faithfulness and truth to God held firm amid idolatry even in the lowliest station.
He refused to conceal his principles or hide that he was a worshiper of Jehovah in order to gain Egyptian favor, knowing that concealment would lead to being overcome by temptation. He bore his religious faith and his name as a worshiper of the living God as a special honor and never compromised with idolaters. Faithful principles thus lived out in a foreign setting became a witness through conduct and not only through words.
In prosperity, when God made him a prosperous man, and in adversity he honored God, and God honored him. Faithfulness in the lowliest station trained every power for highest service. His loyalty to God and close connection with Him brought him wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
His firm, unswerving principle was founded on dwelling upon themes of eternal interest. Above all he dwelt upon Christ bearing the sins of the world at Calvary and enduring shame, scourging, insult, mockery and the hiding of His Father's face to reconcile fallen man to God and rescue from endless death. Such dwelling strengthens the mind, develops character, keeps conversation in heaven from whence the Saviour is looked for, makes vain thoughts seem out of place, rejects foolish jesting and joking, and is the secret of growth in grace and in knowledge of the truth in the infinite love of Him who died.
God was glorified by his faithfulness. His purity and uprightness stood in marked contrast to idol worshipers, letting his character display heavenly grace. In that way heavenly light shone amid heathen darkness.
Pattern for God's People
Joseph in Egypt stands as a youth worthy of imitation for all who are forming characters that will stand the test of judgment. His life there was probationary time in which he was tried and proved, and because he stood firm to principle he became a representative man and a pattern of integrity. Together with Samuel, Daniel and Daniel's companions, his record shows what is expected of children and youth. Character is a personal responsibility that no professor or teacher can make for another, for each person decides his own eternal destiny. This present life is the only opportunity to stand the test and proving, with no second probation.
Though taken captive, he was put in Egypt by providence to carry to heathen nations the blessings that come through knowledge of God. He was to be a representative of Jehovah, never compromising with idolaters but bearing his religious faith and his name as a worshiper of the living God as a special honor. In prosperity, when he was made a prosperous man, and in adversity he honored God, and God honored him. His loyalty and close connection with God brought honor to God, who gave him wisdom, knowledge and understanding. His place in Egypt is what every Seventh-day Adventist institution and sanitarium is to be to the world.
His prospering while serving in an Egyptian household led to his being entrusted with great responsibility. His later unjust suffering for doing right and his imprisonment did not mean he had been forsaken or abandoned or forgotten. His life was ordered by Providence, and his trust in God and uprightness carried him through trials with signal victories despite apparent defeat. He came out of prison to share Egypt's rule, showing that difficult circumstances do not mean God has forgotten His own.
That abiding presence proves God will not forget His people in the trying hour when they are hated, hunted, bound in chains, shut in prison, sentenced to death and left without human help. When commandment-keepers flee to desolate places and mountains and are cast into unjust and cruel bondage, Christ, who bought them with His blood, cannot forsake those precious to Him. One above all earthly powers sees every weakness and knows every trial. Though they suffer privation and lack food while judgments fall, and are left to starve in dark dungeons, they are not left to perish but are given food and water. Angels will come to lonely cells bringing light and peace from heaven, so dungeon walls cannot cut off communion between their souls and Christ and the prison becomes as a palace.