Battle With Temptation || Joseph vs. Jesus #3

As we progress throughout the book of Genesis, it’s time to look at the long and comprehensive story of Joseph. While studying the material, I found a list of parallels between him and Jesus. I’ve learned that much Old Testament literature and storytelling often repeats itself, so does Joseph’s story truly prepare us for the story of Jesus. I have chosen eight parallels they both went through, which we might be going through, to see how they wrestled with them and what we can learn from their responses.

There are more parallels to discuss that focus on the Messiah and leadership-like stories. If you want to hear that side of their stories, let me know, and Part 2 of this series will return. Enjoy the latest series I’m calling “Joseph vs. Jesus.”

The third parallel is that they both struggled with temptations.

Genesis 39:6-9

6            So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing – except what kind of food to eat! Joseph was very handsome and well-built young man,

7            and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully, “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.

Potiphar’s wife was the temptress. She saw Joseph’s power and stature and wanted to lure him into taking all he desired. Yet, Joseph was very respectful to Potiphar. He even had this to say in return to Potiphar’s wife’s demand:

8            But Joseph refused, “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household.

9            No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”

Joseph had a ton of respect for Potiphar for putting him in the position he had. It wouldn’t be morally or ethically right for Joseph to betray him by sleeping with his wife. He even calls it a great sin against God to do that. We’ll explore what happens after this later in the series. Still, Joseph ran out of his robe and ran away from the situation to avoid caving into this temptation.

Proverbs 7:15-20

15          You’re the one I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are!

16          My bed is spread with beautiful blankets, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.

17          I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18          Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses,

19          for my husband is not home. He’s away on a long trip.

20          He has taken a wallet fully of money with him and won’t return until later this month.

The more significant part of this story in Proverbs is shown in Proverbs 7:6-23, but we’re focusing on these six verses. Although the advice is directed toward the young man in the more extensive passage, young women should also read it. People who believe they have no purpose in life are naïve and simple-minded. Having no purpose or direction can leave one feeling empty, unstable, and vulnerable to temptations that promise fulfillment and satisfaction. Even though the young man in this passage doesn’t know his place in life, the immoral woman knows exactly where she wants him. Notice her strategies (and pay close attention because this is where our scripture comes in):

• She’s dressed to allure him.
• Her approach is bold.
• She invites him over to her place.
• She cunningly answers his every objection.
• She flatters and persuades him with smooth talk.
• She traps him.

Look at what temptation does. It allures you into a false reality where the results might be the same, but you accomplish it by going against God. The temptation is bold. It screams at you to get your attention and is the loudest voice in the room. Temptation will invite you to do something you might not be comfortable with. It cunningly provides you with all the answers you need. Any concern you have about it, the temptation will respond with what sounds like sound reasoning. The reasons will sound flattering and persuade you to act on it. There are smooth conversations that are going on in your spirit as the wrestling continues. Before you know it, you’re trapped.

To combat temptation, you need to do these three things:

• Acknowledge your vulnerability to it.
• Stay close to God and his teachings.
• Cultivate a life of accountability.

Do these things and be aware of the strategies and powers of temptation. If you see them, run and run fast.

How did Jesus deal with temptation, especially from the devil?

Matthew 4:1

1            Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

The same devil, Satan, that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, is doing it to Jesus. Now, Satan is a fallen angel who’s been constantly fighting against those who follow and obey God. The temptations they offer are valid and are trying to get us to live the devil’s way rather than God’s way. Before I switch gears to focus on Satan, I want to point something out that caught me by surprise. It was a revelation to me to see that the Spirit is the one that led Jesus into the wilderness. Still, I never stopped to realize the entire sentence. The Spirit led Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It wasn’t a coincidence that the devil was just there waiting to tempt Jesus. The Spirit sent him there, knowing that the devil awaited him. Even Jesus had to go through the test of temptations. How did Jesus respond? With God’s teachings. Even when the devil tried to counter-attack with scripture, Jesus had scripture ready to fight. This is why we see Paul refer to the Bible as the “sword of the Spirit” in Ephesians 6. It’s why it’s good to know the truth of the scriptures: even when Christians try to correct you with it, you can also counter with the proper teachings. It’s a crazy lesson shown in just one verse. Still, it also shows how a lot of scripture is interconnected with one another and how we can go on tangent after tangent with it. I get so excited about doing these studies for you all. The Bible is an intense literature that very few, in my experience and opinion, dive into properly. Anyways, back to the lesson on temptation.

Jesus will one day reign over all creation, coming in due time. However, Satan tried to force this experience early, and it didn’t happen, thankfully. If it did, and Jesus had given in, his mission on earth – to die for our sins and allow us to have eternal life – would have been lost. What we can learn is that when we’re faced with temptations, we need to consider whether Satan could be blocking God’s purposes for us. We need to stop and see if what we’re wrestling with is something that would please God or something that would offend him.

Genesis 3:1-7

1            The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit form any of the trees in the garden?”

2            “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied.

3            “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4            “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman.

5            “God knows that your eyes will be opened as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

6            The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it too.

7            At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

So much to dive into here about how Satan tempts humanity. Temptation is an invitation from Satan to join his kind of living. He saw the success with Eve and has continued to try to get others to accept the invite. How could Eve have resisted, though? The same way we can. First, recognize that being tempted is not a sin. We are not sinning or have committed a sin when we recognize/acknowledge a temptation. After that, there are four ways to resist:

• Pray for strength.
• Run, literally.
• Say no when confronted with what we know is wrong.
• Hold on firmly to God’s word.

James 1:12

12          God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Satan tempted Eve by making her doubt God’s word and goodness. Satan implied that God was strict, stingy, and selfish for not wanting Eve to share his knowledge of good and evil. Satan made Eve forget everything God had done for her (her attitude of gratitude) and instead made her focus on what God had forbidden. We get into that trap, too. We don’t think of the many positive things someone said to us, but we fixate on the negative. We forget the many things we have when seeing others in real life or on social media with something we want. We feel jealous, frustrated, and disappointed with God that we don’t have what they have. Consider everything we have when we get into that position and share your appreciation with God. Then, the doubts of wanting more won’t lead us to covet.

Disguised as a snake, Satan tempted Eve. Satan was an angel like Gabriel. Yet Satan became highly prideful. Through his pride, he rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven. As a created being by God, Satan has his limitations. Although he wants all of us to stray away from God, we know he will not have the final victory.

Satan accomplished his goal through Adam and Eve. They got what they wanted: an intimate knowledge of good and evil. They got it from going against God. Some of us try to get what we want by any means necessary, regardless of who we hurt or offended. That’s not what our freedom is about, especially the freedom found in God. God says that true freedom comes from following his commands and knowing what not to do. The rules he gives us aren’t to hold us back, but they are for our own good. Satan’s temptations may sound nice, but they aren’t worth it. Doing evil to get what we want isn’t worth it.

Satan used a motive that even entices us. Satan told her that she would be like God if she ate the fruit. It’s not a wrong motive because the ultimate goal is to be more Christ-like. It’s the path of how to get there that makes the difference. Satan misled Eve concerning that path. He told her that she would be more like God by going against God, taking God’s place, and deciding for herself what was best. Being like God is not the same as becoming God. Our job is to reflect his characteristics and to recognize his authority over our lives. Like Eve, we strive to do this but often do it incorrectly. That wrong way often affects those around us. After Eve sinned, she got Adam to sin. When we do something wrong, often, we want to get rid of our guilt by involving someone else. That’s not right, obviously. Recognize and confess your sins to God before you even want to include others in that conversation.

Satan tried to make Eve think that sin is positive. Getting the knowledge of good and evil seemed harmless. People who usually do the wrong things are often convinced that those things are good, at least for them. The sins we commit don’t always feel ugly, and the most pleasant ones are the hardest to avoid. That’s why we must stay consistently vigilant of what could tempt us. We must use God’s word and community to help stand against it when we battle.

Think about what Eve did: she looked, she took, she ate, and she gave. The battle of temptation is often lost at first look by simply seeing something you want. The response is to run from those things that produce those thoughts. If not, we could feel like Adam and Eve, who felt guilt and embarrassment about their nakedness. This made them hide from God. Think about those moments when you feel your guilty conscience is going off. This is a warning signal that God placed inside us to show that our actions are wrong. We need to eliminate the cause, not just the feelings of the cause.

Now, let’s pause because I’ve thrown a lot of stuff at you. This is one of the most extended Bible studies I’ve written. All of this is challenging. There’s no quick fix to this. It starts with doing it once. Then again. Then again. Sometimes, we’ll mess up, and that’s ok if we try again. Sometimes, it’s hard to understand whether our wants are healthy. Sometimes, our guilty conscience malfunctions due to our mental health condition. Sometimes, we don’t fully understand what tempts us because we’ve been fed mixed lessons. I encourage you to study the Bible and talk with God. God will point them out to you or put trusted people in your path to help you see them. You’re not in this by yourself. God is right there with you in this process. All you need to do is stick with the process at all times. Stick with it even when it doesn’t feel like it’s working.

I’ll close here. I encourage you to read 1 Thessalonians 3:5. That was the other note I had about Jesus’ battle with temptation, but it shows Paul’s concern for the church about the possibility of Satan getting to them. It encourages you to keep your faith strong in the battles with temptation. I’ll return with Part 4 of this series soon to discuss Joseph and Jesus being falsely accused. Until then, stay blessed.