Wednesday 8 February 2017

On the Way to the Palace-Potiphar's house 2


And the midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s  and captain of the guard”-Genesis 37:36 KJV King James Version

“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar , an officer of Pharaoh ,captain of the guard ,an Egyptian ,bought him of the hands of the Ishaemelites which had brought him down thither”-  Genesis 39:1 KJV King James Version

Another salient point we notice in these verses above is that Potiphar is an Egyptian. We have already noticed that this man who bought Joseph from the slave market had close links with royalty. He is an officer of Pharaoh and called the “chief executioner”. In other words, he dealt with the unpleasant business of getting rid of those the king was displeased with.

The fact that he brought Joseph to live in his house tells volumes about Joseph that we should not ignore. It appears that Joseph may have initially started out on the fields before working his way to serve in the household of his master. For Joseph to be able to do this effectively, he would have had to go through the challenges of learning a new language so as to be able to communicate properly. And with the language of the new people he found himself amongst, there was the added burden of learning a new culture in the midst of strangers.

The man on the Way to the Palace is one who must be able to adapt to changing circumstances and be ready to learn and unlearn as the  situation requires. Adaptability is an essential requirement for the man on the Way to the Palace.

It was no coincidence that Joseph was bought by someone who served the King, God had to position Joseph rightly and as such Potiphar’s house served as a training ground for Joseph. In addition to the language and culture of Egypt, he learned the business and politics of Egypt. It is also worth noting that Joseph’s sale to Egypt was all part of fulfillment of prophecy ( Genesis 15:13).

It takes a great degree of humility to be able to learn anything ( Proverbs 11:12;Psalms 25:8-9) .Forced with the estrangement from his father, Joseph decided to not to allow his history deprive him of the current moment or his glorious future. He maximized the moment by getting to know the Egyptian language, culture, business and politics.

In  Conclusion, the man on the way to the Palace  is one who is easily adaptable  and ready to learn new skills.  Refusing to learn and improve ourselves will eventually make us unfit for God’s purposes and getting to the Palace. This new location of Joseph is all part of God’s sovereign plan and on the Way to the Palace, our location is critical    and hence relocation should not be taken lightly or changed solely on economical reasons. He should also be one who is always ready to make the best use of whatever situation he finds himself in (Proverbs 16:4& Ecclesiastes 9:10).

In His Service,

Grace Tom-Lawyer.

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