Bs8. Bible Study On Sexual Temptation Genesis 39 Vv 6-8 Web V.

Why Joseph wouldn‘t play the game!

Genesis 39 vv 6-9 Joseph is tempted by his master‘s wife

Do-Your-Own Bible Study * PCJB PP Presentation devised and prepared November 2009

Why PowerPoint? 

Clear to see

Central formatting Use few words per frame One unit of thought to each line 

Easy to manipulate the text 

Concentrates the mind 

Challenges the heart 

Fun to use

This presentation… …shows you how to expose the original message of a Bible passage through careful study of the text. …makes God’s Word come alive to you and to any members of a group (2+) studying the Bible together.

Genesis 39:6-9

The TEXT

So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!” But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. Noone is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 

The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.

Before you start work… Pray that God will guide your study (exposing His Word to your mind); and that, through this study, He will speak to you (exposing your life to His search).

1st STAGE Observe the GENRE (the kind of literature) of the passage: The style / form of writing used by the writer (e.g. Narrative, letter, legal, poetic, etc)

The TEXT

– What form of writing is used?

So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!” But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. Noone is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

Observing the Genre

Research Findings

The Kind of Writing Literary style: 



It is a report, from a longer narrative, of an incident involving two persons The report takes the form of an account of a difficult moral situation followed by the reported argument of one of the protagonists (persons involved) in that situation.

Interpreting Narrative in Scripture: Usually the actions portrayed are not meant to be exemplary (to be followed as models in every respect). Rather the reader is left to judge for himself their morality or wisdom by their consequences or by their reflection (or otherwise) of Scriptural principles of behaviour.

Interpreting Narrative: The reader should ask of each key action in the narrative: Did good come out of this action, or were the consequences bad? Does God‘s Word commend this kind of action, or does it condemn it? Does this action provide us with an example to follow? Or with a warning to heed?

2nd STAGE

Observe

THE STRUCTURE (Note the relationship of the various parts of the passage)

How is this passage structured?

Step 1: Listing the IDEAS

a) What are the units of thought? Rearrange the text so as to LIST each new IDEA on a separate line as you come to it in your reading of the passage

Structure: Listing the Ideas Exercise Step 1 Rewrite the passage as a LIST of the IDEAS or the units of thought* contained (* each sentence / clause / phrase that gives additional meaning)

So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!” But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

Structure: Listing the Ideas

WORK-

SHEET So he left in Joseph’s care [1st idea] everything he had; [2nd idea] with Joseph in charge, [3rd idea, etc] he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!” But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. Noone is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

Structure: Listing the Ideas Result So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!” But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

Step 2: Shaping The STRUCTURE

b) What is its shape? Shift the position of each idea in such a way as to show the relationship of each idea to the total structure

The Grammatical STRUCTURE

By “shaping the structure“ is meant arranging the text of the passage to show visually how the passage has been structured. Note: this refers to the grammatical structure of the translaton, not necessarily that of the original text.

Structure

Exercise

Rewrite the passage to show clearly:  the shape of its grammatical structure, 

using indented* lines to show the relationship of the various parts to the whole passage.

* Indention: When you indent a word or line you start further in from the margin than when you start other lines.

“Shaping” the Text’s Structure Positioning the text to show how the passage is constructed is the most difficult part of the task of exposing the message of the passage. It is also the most subjective part since there is usually no one way of arranging the sentences, clauses and phrases that make up the whole.

“Shaping” the Text’s Structure What matters is that you discover for yourself how the various parts relate to each other How to show this depends on the arrangement of the text that clarifies the content for you.

Example of “Shaping” The Text’s STRUCTURE So he left in Joseph’s care [ 3 statements about everything he had; how J’s master with Joseph in charge, left matters ] he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. [“he” x 2: aspects of the master’s arrangement put Positively & aspects of that arrangement put Negatively]

Example of “Shaping” The Text’s STRUCTURE Step 2 Reshape the lay-out of the passage to show the grammatical structure

So he left in Joseph’s care [ 3 statements about everything he had; how J’s master with Joseph in charge, left matters ] he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!” But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

“Shaping” the Text’s Structure WORKSHEET (a) So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!”

“Shaping” the Text’s Structure WORKSHEET (b) But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

“Shaping” the Text’s Structure

We will use the following arrangement of the text for our study of the passage Note: It is only one possible way to shape the structure of the passage.

.

The STRUCTURE

Result (a)

So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!”

The STRUCTURE

Result (b)

But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

3rd STAGE ANALYSE What is happening? Who are the people involved? a)

[ Look for the personal nouns and underline with bold letters, or write them in capital letters, so that they stand out ]

Analysis Step 1 Look for the personal NOUNS and highlight them

Exercise

What is happening? Who are the people involved? 

Highlight all the main  

people involved things involved (NOUNS)

ANALYSIS

WORK-SHEET (a)

So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!”

ANALYSIS WORK-SHEET (b) But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

ANALYSIS Result (a) So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!”

ANALYSIS Result (b) But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; house Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” God

Analysis Step 2 Look for the VERBS and highlight them

Exercise

What is happening? 

Underline what they are doing (“doing“ verbs)  any “being“ verbs 

ANALYSIS WORK-SHEET (a) So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!”

ANALYSIS WORK-SHEET(b) But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; house Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” God

ANALYSIS Result (a) So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!”

ANALYSIS Result (b) But he refused. He told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; house Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” God

Exercise

What is each section about? What are their topics? [ Note them as headings on the right ]

The TOPICS

WORK-SHEET

So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had;

HOUSEHOLD RESPONSIBILITIES

with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he eat. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “come to bed with me!” But he refused. He told her,

GOOD LOOKS

ENTICEMENT REFUSAL / REBUTTAL

“With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; house Everything he owns HIS MASTER’S TRUST he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me HIS MASTER’S CONFIDENCE except you, because you are his wife. HIS M’S INTIMACY How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS GOD God

4th

STAGE

SYNTHESIS (Putting it all together)

What is The Over-all Subject of this passage?

Step 1: Over-all SUBJECT Suggestion

Sexual Temptation: Answering a temptress How to deal verbally with sexual enticement by a temptress

Note Sexual Temptation: Is this too a delicate subject to mention in public? Note: 

God has caused this incident to be recorded in His Word for our learning



Originally God‘s Word was read out in public to a mainly illiterate congregation



Studying the Bible privately is a recent custom

Step 2: Subject

The TEACHING about the Over-all

What does the passage say about the over-all subject of responding to sexual temptation?

What does the passage say about

Answering a temptress? Notes

Note the limited scope of this question 



The question is not asking for everything that the passage may teach (i.e. about this and other topics also) The question is not asking for everything that the Bible teaches about the subject

What does the passage say about

Answering a temptress? Notes (cont): 

The question is not asking about 

how to deal with temptation itself, e.g. 



by avoiding it (see v.10b: never alone with the tempter!) or by running away from it (see v.12)

but about 

how to answer the one who is tempting

TEACHING about

Answering a temptress: 1 So he left in Joseph’s care HOUSEHOLD RESPONSIBILITIES everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well built and ATTRACTION & TEMPTATION handsome.



People can be particularly subject to temptation who are  In positions of prominence  In positions of great trust  Blessed with good looks

TEACHING about

Answering a temptress: 2 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and ENTICEMENT said, “come to bed with me!”



Familiarity with people at work can create situations of temptation

TEACHING about

Answering a temptress: 3 But he refused.



REFUSAL / REBUTTAL

The first step in dealing with temptation is to say “No!“

TEACHING about

Answering a temptress: 4 he told her, “With me in charge, my master does not concern himself with anything the house;

in

HIS MASTER’S TRUST



It is wise to bring a third party into the situation (either physically or, as when Joseph referred to ‘my master`, mentally)

TEACHING about

Answering a temptress: 5 My master has withheld nothing from me HIS MASTER’S CONFIDENCE except you, HIS M’S INTIMACY because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS GOD



Rather than denouncing the tempter, it is more tactful (and positive) to defend 



one‘s own integrity and the interests of others

TEACHING about

Answering a temptress: 6 My master has withheld nothing from me except you, HIS MASTER’S CONFIDENCE because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” God RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS GOD



There are God-made boundaries in human affairs: to cross them results in  

wronging others as well as seriously sinning against God

TEACHING about

Answering a temptress: 7 Everything he owns HIS MASTER’S TRUST he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. HIS MASTER’S CONFIDENCE My master has withheld nothing from me except you, HIS M’S INTIMACY because you are his wife.



Succumbing to sexual temptation 



destroys relationships because it betrays trust

TEACHING about

Answering a temptress: 8 Everything he owns HIS MASTER’S TRUST he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. HIS MASTER’S CONFIDENCE My master has withheld nothing from me except you, HIS M’S INTIMACY because you are his wife.



Faithfulness in other areas of life strengthens our resolve against the temptations of extramarital affairs

TEACHING about

Answering a temptress: 9 Everything he owns HIS MASTER’S TRUST he has entrusted to my care. No-one is greater in this house than I am. HIS MASTER’S CONFIDENCE My master has withheld nothing from me except you, HIS M’S INTIMACY because you are his wife. 

It is wise to have reasons prepared beforehand against particular temptations, e.g.:    

Not to betray his master‘s confidence in him Not to spoil his relationship with his master Not to spoil the intimacy between husband & wife Not to sin against God

The TEACHING about the over-all subject

Note: Just as a three-fold cord is not easily broken, so having several ways of resisting temptation strengthens our resolve not to give in.

If we rely on one defence alone (e.g. just remembering that to give in is sinning) we are more likely to fall into temptation

Step 3: Identify The HEART-BEAT

What is the main lesson that this passage teaches? What is the heart-beat of the passage?

Finding The HEART-BEAT The main lessons

God has made boundaries in human affairs which we must never cross  Bring a third party into a situation of temptation  Have reasons for resisting temptation before the temptation arises  Learn to be faithful in all situations 

The HEART-BEAT Suggestion A

Saying “No!“ to temptation is easier if you can also say “Why Not“! (Integrity in the face of temptation involves having good reasons for not complying)

The HEART-BEAT Suggestion B

When facing sexual temptation bring into the situation an affected third party (Integrity in the face of temptation involves having in mind the consequences for others)

Analysis > Application The exegetical task is now complete The homiletical business of expounding and applying the message can now be undertaken

Application





Lessons in Resisting Temptation not only for (negatively) Resisting Seducers outside of marriage but also for (positively) Maintaining Healthy Relationships inside and outside of Marriage

Application Healthy Relationships Outside of Marriage

1. Involve Others In situations of temptation bring in the rightfully concerned parties: Spouse - Fiancée – Master - God

Application Healthy Relationships Outside of Marriage

2. Be Accountable Never do, say, or think anything which you would not wish the rightfully concerned parties to know about

Application Healthy Relationships Outside of Marriage

3. Rehearse Biblical Reasons for righteous behaviour Why the wrong behaviour is wicked and offends God as well as wronging others

Additional Note: dealing with sexual temptation (the context)

The passage context concerns why the righteous Joseph was thrown into prison. The immediate context includes two additional examples of how to deal with sexual temptation

Dealing with sexual temptation



Avoid being alone with a person of the opposite sex



Run away from those who would tempt you to sin

The End