If you watch the movie about Joseph’s life story, there is a scene where Potiphar’s tries to seduce Joseph. Potiphar’s wife says to Joseph, “Joseph, spend the night with me,” to which Joseph replies, “I don’t like middle-aged women who are old and ugly like you.” When Potiphar’s wife grabs Joseph’s clothing, he leaves his clothing behind and runs away. She becomes extremely mad and her goodwill towards him turns into rage. She shouts in a loud voice that this slave tried to dishonor me. The scene changes and it shows Potiphar holding a trial in front of the whole household. Potiphar’s wife shouts that Joseph must die. Joseph insists that he is innocent. However, in the end, Potiphar decides to put Joseph in prison. The scene changes again and shows Potiphar’s bedroom. It shows Potiphar’s wife turning on her husband in a fit of rage, “Why did you not kill the one that tried to disgrace me? Don’t you think that just sending him to prison is not enough?”
Potiphar says this, “I believe Joseph. I know that he is not that type of person. You were the one that intentionally tried to seduce him, right?” In this scene, as he says this, he hits his wife. I could not continue watching because I felt that this [movie] did nothing for my devotion. In the Bible, there are those who are falsely accused. The first is Jesus, and the second is Joseph. Joseph was sold as a slave to Egypt because of his brothers. Even in Egypt, where he was serving his owner, Potiphar, he was put in prision because he refused the seduction of Potiphar’s wife. Potiphar knew that his wife was not living a virtuous life. At the same time, he also knew of Joseph’s loyalty and religious belief when he put Joseph in command of the whole household. If he really thought that Joseph was guilty, he would not have simply put Joseph in prison. He would have killed him. At the time, the owner had the power to decide whether a slave should live or die.
Joseph was the sacrificial lamb for Potiphar’s honor. Potiphar sent Joseph to prision knowing he was innocent to protect his and his wife’s honor. There was a rumor that that Caesar’s wife also had an affair with another man. This turned out to be false. However, Caesar still cast out his wife. The reason? It is because Caesar believed that “there should not be any rumors about the wife of Caesar”. This is because of the characteristic of the men who cared more about their honor than the truth. That is why Joseph was falsely accused and sacrificed to save Potiphar’s honor. Joseph did not fight with people to try and convince them that he was innocent. He only cried to God about his false accusations. This is also important to us as believers. Joseph was put in prison under false accusations, but it turns out that prison was a shortcut to meet the king.
Right now, there is someone who is by my side that is also suffering from unspeakable false accusations. He is suffering from all sorts of rumors and gossipers. To save their own honor, they are making a young man and his parents suffer. It may look bad now, and even though you feel falsely accused, if you just trust and follow the way that God is leading you, it will turn out to be the fastest shortcut. When you feel falsely accused, you need to place your complete trust in God, who is creating the bigger picture. This is because God’s way of thinking is different from the way humans think. You could resolve it by retaliating like regular people. You could also resolve it by explaining. However, none of these solutions can completely resolve false accusations. Nevertheless, later on, when you look back at the way God has led you, it will have been the shortcut not to false accusations, but the shortcut to receiving blessings.
February 28, 2010
From the Pastor’s Office, Pastor XXX
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CREDITS : Church Blog (SOURCE); ___@2ONEDAY.COM (TRANS)
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