Joseph’s Other Coat

            The story of Joseph is one the most powerful displays of faith found in the pages of God’s word. Joseph, in scripture, is displayed as a man of incredible faith who maintained his faith in God in the face of many adversities. One of the more well-known features of his story is that Joseph, as a young boy, was given a coat of many colors. This coat, given to him by his father, symbolized the special favor that he had over all of his brethren. However, because of this fact, the coat also symbolized the primary cause that led to all the troubles that he would later experience in life. The special favor bestowed upon Joseph by his father, symbolized in the coat, was the cause of his brothers being jealous of him (Gen. 37:3-4), which led to him being sold into slavery (Gen. 37:18-28), and ultimately lead to him being a slave in Potiphar’s house in Egypt (Gen. 37:29-36). While most people know about the story of Joseph’s multi-colored coat and the circumstances that surround it, do they also know about his other coat that is written about in the pages of scripture — the coat that he left in Egypt in the hands of another man’s wife in (Gen. 39:12)? It is my belief that the story behind this coat should garner most of our attention because of the very important and vital lessons that are gleaned from the circumstances surrounding it.  These lessons teach us how to handle our struggle with our greatest foe —temptation.

Joseph, who at this time in scripture is a slave in Potiphar’s house, and on more than one occasion, had been sexually propositioned by Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:6-10). Joseph refuses one of her advances by stating he could not be with her because she’s the wife of another man (Gen. 39:9). Potiphar’s wife continues her advances and one day catches Joseph by his garment and commands him to lie with her (Gen. 39:12). It is here, in Joseph’s response to her last advance, where we learn how to handle and overcome temptation. Joseph responds by doing three things that if we perform them in our lives we would do well in handling temptation.

The first thing we see in Joseph’s response is that he, without delay, flees the temptation. Scripture states that he immediately fled and went outside (Gen. 39:12). Joseph, without any hesitation or second thought, separated himself from the thing that was tempting him to sin because he didn’t want to commit “this great evil and sin against God” (Gen. 39:9). When we are tempted with sin, how fast do we separate ourselves from the source of the temptation? Secondly, we learn from Joseph’s response that not only did he flee the scene, but he also left his garment in her hand (Gen. 39:12-13). I believe the primary reason why this act is mentioned in scripture is to show us that Joseph resolved not to go back into the presence of Potiphar’s wife. Once he fled the area of temptation he had no desire to be back in its presence. Once we flee temptation, we must resolve not to go back into its presence again, lest the next time we may fall victim to it. The last thing we learn from Joseph’s response that can help us understand how to handle temptation is that after he fled the temptation and resolved not to go back, he continued to focus his life on serving God. In the story we learn that as a consequence of refusing the advances of Potiphar’s wife she falsely accuses Joseph of trying to lie with her, and as a result, he was imprisoned (Gen. 39:14-22). Yet while in prison, Joseph never abandoned his faith in God and, therefore, was still used by God. Later in the story we find that Joseph, whom God gave the ability to interpret dreams, is eventually released from prison because of his ability to interpret a dream for Pharaoh. This act causes Joseph to gain favor in Pharaoh’s sight,  resulting in him being promoted to a position where he is second in command over all of Egypt (Gen. 40- 41:49). This allows for Joseph to bring his family into the land of Egypt, and thereby, begins the process of God separating a nation for Himself to bring His son Jesus Christ through. However, the point that I want for us to learn from all this is that Joseph fled temptation and ran into the service of God. Therefore, when we flee temptation and sin we should strive to do the same thing. Flee temptation and fill our hearts up with God’s word and our lives up with His work. If do this, we will be less likely to return to the temptation that, if left unchecked, will lead us to sin and eventually to spiritual death (James 1:14-15).

So we need to ask ourselves:  “How are we responding to temptation right now in our lives? Are we, like Joseph, fleeing from it as fast as we can (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22)? Are we, like Joseph, resolving never to be in its presence again after we have fled (1 Thessalonians 5:22; 1 Peter 2:11)? Do we, like Joseph, after fleeing temptation fill up our lives up with God’s word and His work (Colossians 1:9-11)?”   If not, maybe we should heed the example of Joseph and starting shedding the coat of sinful living by imitating his actions in our battle with temptation.

— Sam Barclay