Genesis 39:23, commentary and pictures

The prison keeper entrusted everything to Joseph and stopped overseeing what was in his charge, because the Lord was with Joseph and made all that he did succeed even in prison. He was there unjustly, falsely accused and bound as a condemned state prisoner without hope of release after refusing to break God's law, yet his imprisonment was no sign that God had forsaken him in a heathen land. His success came not by miracle alone, but through industry, care, and trust in the Lord as friend and protector, which God crowned with blessing and guarding care. God turned the wrong into blessing, using discipline, adversity, and hardship to prepare him for exaltation and to guide him from the dungeon to authority in Egypt. By unwavering principle, fear of God, and integrity that carried religion into everything, his virtue shone unconquered amid corruption and made him a pattern for all who must stand firm under trial.

Presence and Prosperity in Prison

The keeper committed the charge of all the prisoners to Joseph and looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the LORD was with him and made all that he did to prosper, even in prison. That trust meant the keeper did not need to oversee what was entrusted to him, for the Lord's presence gave Joseph favor and caused his work to prosper. In the path of duty, suffering wrong but doing no wrong, Joseph carried religious principle into everything he undertook and therefore had the love and protection of God. His religion kept his temper sweet and gentle and his sympathy with humanity warm and strong, made him cheerful and useful to others, and led him to enter into the troubles of his fellow prisoners and serve his suffering companions.

That prosperity was not by direct miracle alone, for Joseph's industry, care, and energy were necessary and were crowned with God's blessing. Those entrusted to his care prospered under the success the Lord's presence brought, and his faithfulness made his service a witness to God amid idolatry. After separation from his father, God's presence and guardianship sustained him as he looked to the Lord as his friend and protector, and the Lord watched his actions. Though imprisoned under false charges, he was strengthened in the fear of God to preserve his integrity.

The setting was unjust imprisonment after firm resistance to temptation to transgress God's law, when he was falsely accused and bound with fetters in a gloomy dungeon. He was held as Pharaoh's prisoner of state, condemned without hope of vindication or prospect of release. Though virtuous he suffered as though he were a criminal, losing reputation and liberty, yet outward injustice did not undo his integrity.

Imprisonment did not mean God had forsaken him. Surrounded by idolaters in a heathen land in Egypt, God remained with him in hardship. God does not forsake those who belong to Him, and because Joseph had done what was right God gave him victory in time.

Affliction Preparing for Exaltation

God turned the misfortune of unjust imprisonment into a blessing and made the prison itself the way to elevation, ordering Joseph's life by Providence to lead him from prison to authority in Egypt. After firm resistance to transgressing God's law, false accusation and binding with fetters in a gloomy prison, God did not forsake him but was with him and gave him favor with the keepers, so that the charge of all the prisoners was committed to him. That guiding hand through affliction for a time was preparation for an important position, showing that virtue in time brings its own reward.

God designed that Joseph should obtain experience by temptations, adversity, hardships and prison discipline to prepare him to fill an exalted place of great responsibility, honor, usefulness and prosperity. The service in prison and the hardships endured, which seemed to lower him, ultimately raised him finally to prosperity and honor. Joseph was willing to learn and took kindly to the lessons, learning to bear the yoke in his youth and learning humility and obedience, learning to govern by first learning obedience himself, and because he humbled himself the Lord exalted him to special honor.

God safely guards the reputation blackened by a wicked accuser, and when the faithful suffer calumny and false accusation Providence overrules all the enemy's devices for good. In His own good time He causes that reputation to shine and gives victory because the sufferer did what was right, exalting him as much higher as for a while he was debased by wicked revenge. Though virtuous yet suffering as a criminal, Joseph's virtue and nobleness shone unconquered with no taint upon his integrity, preserved amid snares and the most corrupting influences by firm principle and unwavering trust and the shield of grace as a strong defense.

In prison Joseph displayed the same fidelity he showed in the palace of the Pharaohs, even while held as Pharaoh's prisoner of state condemned unjustly without hope of vindication or prospect of release. He thereby bore alike the test of adversity and the test of prosperity, withstanding both the temptations attending great changes of fortune and the fierce temptations that assail those who stand in the world's high places of success and honor. His uprightness and wisdom in meeting both estates grew from the training and choices of his early years.

Example of Faithful Integrity

Joseph in Egypt was a youth who was tried and proved and who stood firm to principle, and for that reason he became a representative man and a pattern of integrity for students to imitate. Students must build characters that will stand the test of the judgment, for each person is responsible for the kind of character built. Each decides eternal destiny in this present probationary time, which is the only opportunity for the proving of God and for standing the test.

By firm principle and unwavering trust in God, and by the fear of God covering the heart, his virtue and nobleness of character shone without taint though surrounded with evil. With the shield of grace as a strong and trustworthy defense, and with God as a present help and His Spirit as a shield, he remained unconquered amid snares and the most corrupting influences, with no taint left upon his virtue and integrity. Though exposed to the severest temptations there is a defense at hand and a source of strength to resist them, and it is one's own fault if not preserved. Such faithfulness makes one faithful and just to man and true to God.

In the path of duty he suffered wrong but did no wrong, carrying religious principle into everything he undertook. He honored God in adversity as His representative and witness among a heathen nation amid idolatry, and his faithfulness brought honor to God. Humbling circumstances did not degrade him, and outward injustice and the loss of reputation and liberty under a false charge did not undo his integrity. His religion kept his temper sweet and gentle and his sympathy with humanity warm and strong. It made him cheerful and useful to others and led him to enter into the troubles of his fellow prisoners and to serve his suffering companions. Because he humbled himself and learned to govern by first learning obedience and bearing the yoke in his youth, the Lord exalted him to special honor.

He was one who had light in himself, with a personal experience of truth that nothing could move. That firmness was gained by searching the Bible for himself rather than believing because others say so. By pleading with God for His Spirit to know the truth and understand its principles, by talking faith and praying in faith, and by putting away doubt and discouragement, he gained a faith that kept him firm in prison and unturned from the truth.