Page 54 - SABBATH

future promotion. Joseph was sent by Jacob to check on his brothers and to bring back a
report. Joseph had formerly done so, bringing back an evil report of the activity of his
brothers. Joseph’s brothers despised him. They were indignant at the fact that he would be
used to report on their activities and that their father favored Joseph more than them.
Joseph received a bitter course in human envy, jealousy and hatred. Some of his brothers
wanted to kill him, but instead they were talked into selling him into slavery to a foreign
land and people.
Joseph cried out bitterly with many tears for his brothers not to abuse him, but they
turned a deaf ear to his cries. His brothers then went and reported to their father that
Joseph had been killed by wild beasts. In great despondence, Joseph was taken to Egypt and
sold as a slave to an Egyptian official.
At this point, many would have been tempted to throw in the towel and to say, “God,
if this is your training for future service, then I would prefer not to be a minister in your
kingdom.” But Joseph was faithful. Even though he had been rejected by brothers and sent
far away from the father he loved, he performed every service that was entrusted to him
with the greatest of integrity.
Joseph’s faithfulness was soon noticed, and it was evident that everything entrusted
to his hands prospered. His master took this young Hebrew slave and placed him in charge
of his entire household. Everything in this man’s house was blessed through the faithful
service of Joseph.
For a while it seemed that things were going well for Joseph. Although he still was
enslaved and rejected by brothers and separated from his father, he was given some honor
and he received the benefits befitting his position of service. But Joseph’s training was
about to be turned up a notch in its intensity.
The wife of Potipher, Joseph’s master, was physically attracted to Joseph, for he was
a handsome youth. She began to entice Joseph to have sexual relations with her. Joseph
knew that to do so would be a violation of his master’s trust in him, as well as a sin against
God. Joseph resisted her temptations day after day. One day this woman found herself
alone in the house with Joseph and she pressed him mightily to lie with her. Joseph fled
from her, leaving his garment in her hands, for she had grasped hold of his garment.
Potipher’s wife, angry at being rebuffed, called the other servants and reported that
Joseph had tried to make sexual advances toward her and that he had left his outer garment
with her when she cried out. Joseph was seized and falsely accused. What a grief for this
young man who had been completely faithful in the discharge of his duties, even while
enduring enslavement at the hands of his brothers. Joseph was placed in prison, but even
in prison he was faithful.
Quite often in the training programs of man, a student ascends from one level to
another and greater honor is accorded at each level. In God’s training program for Joseph
he descended, first into slavery, and then into prison. In this position as an imprisoned
slave Joseph had no rights and no honor. The temptation must have been great to cry out
to God and to find fault with Him due to Joseph’s harsh circumstances. The days turned
into months, and the months into years as Joseph saw no release from the prison in which
he had been placed. In the Psalms we have this testimony of Joseph’s trial.

Psalms 105:17-19
He sent a man before them -- Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with
shackles, his soul was laid in irons, until the time His word was fulfilled, the word