Joseph and God’s Overflowing Blessing

Fast forward through a chapter of Genesis and we catch up with Joseph far from home.  He was formerly Daddy’s favorite with a coat of authority, but resented by his brothers, and now he’s the slave who had been in the Ishmaelite caravan to be sold a second time, first by family and now by strangers.

Genesis 39:1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

Potiphar unwittingly won the slave-purchase lottery in buying Joseph because God was preparing to prosper and bless Joseph wherever he went, including Egypt.  All Potiphar probably looked for was an able-bodied honest worker.  Little did he know that God’s hand would be upon Joseph and whatever blessing happened to Joseph would overflow to Potiphar’s benefit.  Cool! Buy one slave who is blessed by God, and it’s all upside. 

Genesis 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant.

Potiphar, a wise man even before the Magi.  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that blessing defies gravity and God’s favor upon Joseph could be helpful to Potiphar.  It’s like Potiphar knew this before Malachi.  “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10) 

Genesis 39:4 Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

Think about it:

• Blessings are not geographical, they are personal.  Joseph was in Egypt, but he was still Joseph.  Egypt was the powerful worship epicenter of foreign gods, but there was Joseph, a faithful Jew, shining brightly because of the dark place.  How often do you look to your change your circumstances to bring about blessing?
• In what way could your worship of God, obedience to Him, and your trust in Him stand out and become a blessing to others?
• Read Psalm 67:1 “For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us– 2 so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. 3 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. 4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. 5 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. 6 The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. 7 May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.”  What is God’s purpose in blessing us? 
• What is God’s purpose in our suffering? 
• In what way are blessing and suffering two sides of the same instrument God uses to shape character … whether the character of a person or the character of a culture?
• In what way does that destroy a God-wants-you-happy “prosperity gospel” preached in too many churches?