19 Now when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” his anger burned. 20 So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison.

22 And the warden of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. 23 The warden of the prison did not supervise anything under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and, the Lord made whatever he did prosper.

Genesis 39:19-23 (NASB)

Thrown in prison

Joseph is successfully framed by Potiphar’s wife. Potiphar seems to fall for it and sends Joseph to prison, the Pharaoh’s prison. He could have easily had Joseph killed. Maybe he knew Joseph was actually innocent but had to deal with the embarrassment. We don’t know. But what we do know is, the Lord was with him…again. This is another “but God” situation: Joseph was in prison…but God was with him.

In considering the wife of Potiphar and her lack of character, enduringword.com jokes: “Poor Potiphar! He was left with his wife and without Joseph, who made his whole household run well.”

Charles Spurgeon, famed English preacher from the 1800’s, in commenting on Joseph’s character, notes how he handled the situation without a complaint or self defense. “This showed great power; it is hard for a man to compress his lips, saying nothing when his character is at stake. So eloquent was Joseph in his silence that there is not a word of complaint throughout the whole record of his life. (Spurgeon)”

Touch turns to gold

You’ve heard the expression that with some people, everything they touch turns to gold. It seems they have some special talent or ability in business such that they make money wherever they invest. Well, Joseph has more than a special talent, he’s got the Lord working on his behalf! God has a plan for him and He is working to fulfill it. It is not the way we’d expect. It’s certainly not what Joseph would have asked for.

This “gold touch” was also in King David. In 1 Chronicles 18:13 we read, “Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.” The Lord prospered David in whatever he did. This continued until his heart became proud.

RЯeflection

• How do we handle being improperly charged or having our character assailed? Can we humbly seek peace and not revenge? Can we trust the Lord to be our defender?
• What was really the “secret” of Joseph’s (and David’s) “gold finger”? Yes, it was the Lord who was with them. And, we should add, they were with the Lord!