Articles
Why Did Joseph Flee? Pt. 2
Why Did Joseph Flee? Pt. 2
When confronted with temptation, there are usually practical consequences that prevent us from pursuing whatever is tempting us. If you were tempted to steal, the realization that you would probably get caught and go to jail should make you not want to steal. If you were tempted to lie at work, the possibility of losing your job should put an end to the temptation. External checks and balances are important and certainly helpful, but external consequences should not be our main motivation for avoiding sin.
Ask yourself: Am I more worried about losing my job, or sinning against God? Am I more worried about the physical consequences of sin, or sinning against God? If we could ask Joseph these questions, he would tell us he is more worried about sinning against God than any physical consequence. When Potiphar’s wife tries to entice him, Joseph responds, “‘There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’” Genesis 39:9. Joseph acknowledges his earthly blessings, but his motivation is to not sin against God. Joseph could have focused on how sleeping with Potiphar’s wife would cost him his earthly blessings by saying, “How then can I do this great wickedness and possibly lose my job?” Or maybe, “How then can I do this great wickedness and end up in jail?”
Joseph’s answer shows that pleasing God should be our number one motivator when avoiding sin. When we seek to please God first, a lot of times the external things will work out well too. If you do not steal because you do not want to sin against God, you should not go to jail. If you do not lie at work, you probably will not lose your job. This is not always the case, though. As you will recall in Joseph’s situation, he does the right thing and flees the enticement of Potiphar’s wife, but she lies by saying Joseph forced himself upon her. Because of this, Joseph is put in jail even after doing the right thing for the right reason. If Joseph’s motivation for fleeing Potiphar’s wife was to maintain his physical blessings, then it would have felt pretty pointless when he wound up in jail even after doing the right thing. Instead, even though he is in prison, Joseph’s goal was still accomplished: he did not sin against God.
If our motivation for resisting temptation is based on how the situation will work out for us physically then we are not going to be very successful in avoiding sin. There will be times when lying at work could save your job. There will be a time when stealing seems like the best way to keep yourself out of financial trouble. In Joseph’s case, sleeping with his master’s wife could have kept him out of jail. If our motivation for resisting temptation is to not sin against God, then the outcome of the situation will not matter in our decision-making process. In fact, there will not have to be much of a decision at all. Once we recognize something is sinful, we do whatever we can to avoid it, even if that puts us in jail. Why did Joseph flee? So that he would not sin against God. We should flee from temptation for the same reason. --William Speer
