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Why Did Joseph Flee?
Why Did Joseph Flee?
“But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside” (Genesis 39:11-12).
Joseph famously flees from Potiphar’s wife after she continually entices him to sleep with her. The goal for this article is to understand why Joseph fled and how we can flee like Joseph. When we understand this, we will know when we need to run away from the temptations in front of us.
Strength or Weakness?
Joseph’s fleeing is usually seen as a sign of his strength against temptation. The text makes it clear that this woman wanted Joseph, and this time he could truly get away with it since none of the other men were inside the house. Joseph had the chance to sleep with his master’s wife and get away with it. To continually be met with this proposition and choose to run away from the situation entirely is certainly a sign of strength. However, I think it is Joseph’s acknowledgement of his weakness that makes him strong. If Joseph knew that he was able to withstand this temptation day after day without giving in, he would not have needed to run away from Potiphar’s wife. He could have just kept saying no, but instead he flees. I think this is because Joseph knew that eventually this temptation would be too hard to resist if he allowed it to present itself day after day. Acknowledging that we are likely to give in to sin may sound like weakness, but by accepting his own weakness Joseph is able to escape the temptation. Joseph’s strength is accepting his weakness.
What Do We Need To Flee From?
Too often we do the opposite of what we learn from Joseph in Genesis 39. Joseph overestimates his potential weakness against temptation and proves himself to be strong by avoiding the temptation altogether. Many times we overestimate our strength and fall victim to temptation because we do not want to admit how weak we actually are. Hopefully we are not faced with the same temptation Joseph was dealing with, but there are temptations in our faces everyday like Potiphar’s wife was to Joseph. It is not weak to admit that if the same temptation is presented to us everyday then eventually we are going to fall victim to it.
There are many temptations in our world that present themselves to us daily, but the temptation of technology seems to be the most prevalent. Why do we allow this temptation to continually be in our faces instead of fleeing it? Joseph could have pretended his situation with Potiphar’s wife was not tempting and continue to enjoy its excitement, but instead he fled. Perhaps we like the exhilaration of temptations being only a few taps away, so we choose to keep the temptation around us instead of fleeing it. Joseph likely knew his life would get harder after fleeing this temptation, but he still fled. Maybe we think life with limited technology would be too hard or too inconvenient, so we choose to keep the temptation instead of fleeing it. Do not let the same temptation approach you everyday. Delete apps, set time limits, or get rid of the phone entirely. Acknowledge your weakness and flee the temptation. You will be stronger because of it. –William Speer
