Poor Joseph! Every time he did
what was right, someone played a dirty trick on him. Do you sometimes wonder if
it pays to do what is right? Perhaps Joseph’s story will encourage you.

Jacob loved Joseph more than all
his children (Gen. 37:3). Jacob no doubt saw in Joseph qualities lacking in his
other sons and even in himself, for there was nothing of deceit or guile in
Joseph. He was completely open and frank. He hid nothing from his father or his
brothers. He told his dreams to his brothers; and so completely were hatred and
treachery removed from his nature that he had no idea that his revelations
would bring out such an adverse reaction from his brothers.

Joseph was also in complete
submission to his father. Jacob asked Joseph to visit his brothers and inquire
about their welfare while they were away from home tending sheep (Gen. 37:13).
By this time Joseph must have been aware of his brothers’ hatred and he must
have heard of their treacherous and ruthless treatment of Shechem. He could only
expect harsh treatment if he went to them alone and unprotected. Yet he offered
no word of complaint or fear to Jacob, but did as his father commanded. His
brothers responded to his concern for their welfare by selling him as a slave
to traders going to Egypt.

We have seen how Joseph’s
character contrasted with that of his brothers. His response to Potiphar’s wife
shows how his behavior contrasted with that of his half-sister, Dinah. She went
out into the world of her own accord, seeking social contacts. He was thrust
into Egypt (a type of the world) against his will. She ended up in the house of
Shechem, disgraced. He went to prison an innocent man rather than yield to
temptation. Joseph’s ability to refuse to listen to Potiphar’s wife’s
suggestions was sustained by his horror of sinning against God. He was a normal
young man with normal desires and reactions; he was in a strange land and, no
doubt, led a very lonely personal life. But he fled tempta­tion and suffered in
prison rather than sin against God. We have no strength in ourselves to resist
temptation of any kind. The Lord Jesus knows our problems; He intercedes for us
and can help us. Let us dread sin so much that we flee dangerous situations
before it becomes too late.

So again, Joseph did what was
right and suffered for it. Joseph probably would not have escaped prison even
if he had yielded. Potiphar’s wife appears to have been a thoroughly
treacherous woman and might have betrayed Joseph to her husband when she tired
of him. So Joseph would still have had to endure punishment, only without the
comfort of a clear conscience and the knowledge of God’s approval.

The rest of Joseph’s history is
familiar to us. He finally began to reap the righteousness he had sown. By the
time he was 30 years old he was second ruler in Egypt. He was given a wife who
bore him two sons. And finally he was reunited with his father and brothers.
Joseph’s uncompromising righteousness brought him into many trials; but because
of his righteousness God was with him and he eventually prospered and prevailed
over his enemies.

Remember Joseph when you are
tempted to cover evil or deceive or submit to temptation. Remember him when you
are suffering for doing what is right. God only prospers us when we do things
His way. Joseph had to wait many years before his blessing was complete, but he
would never have received that blessing at all if he had done anything
differently. Jesus said, "Blessed are they who are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:10).

(From Young People of the
Bible, published by Moments With The Book, Box 322, Bedford, PA 15522.)

"Flee also youthful lusts;
but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with those who call on the Lord
out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. 2:22).

The order of Scripture is
everywhere most important, and particularly so in its practical exhortations.
So with the passage before us, to "follow faith" we must "follow
righteousness," and it is the relation of these to one another that I
would dwell on a little now.

It is, of course, in the adoption
of it for ourselves, and not in the exaction of it from others, that we are
called to "follow righteousness." There are those who imagine that
the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians—"Why do you not rather
take wrong? why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?" (1 Cor.
6:7)—to be really inconsistent with the following of righteousness. They think
that we are called to maintain righteousness upon the earth, and that we are
therefore morally bound to make war upon unrighteousness. Rather it is grace of
which we are the witnesses, as having received grace. Yet this also may be
misunderstood and abused.

Suppose I hid a thief from the
policemen that were in pursuit of him or refused to give him up into their
hands; this would not be grace, but a perversion of it.  Allowing a criminal to
get away with his crime is not grace since it tends to reinforce his criminal
behavior and thus is harmful to him. It would certainly be unrighteous on my
part, for I should be interfering with government which God has established for
the restraint of evil. Nor have I liberty to show grace where another’s rights
are concerned and not my own. I am only allowed to give up my own rights, never
another’s, in order to show grace.

But I am to give up my own
rights in order to show grace, as the Lord’s words as to the non-resistance of
evil so emphatically enjoin (for example, Matt. 5:38-48). Such words are indeed
so little akin to the spirit of the world in which we live that if we are
influenced by this worldly spirit at all, we shall not be able to understand
them. The maintenance of rights has all the support of common sense and the
general culture, and unless we are ready to maintain them or even demand them,
we shall be counted as very strange indeed, if not traitors to one cause or
another. The Lord has said, "If My kingdom were of this world, then should
my servants fight" (John 18:36), and most of Christendom has decided that
His kingdom is of this world.

There is no contradiction between
following righteousness and showing grace. Guarding this point, then, it is of
the utmost importance to see that in our personal conduct, righteousness is the
very first necessity. "Righteousness" defines for the Christian a
circle beyond which he cannot go, a boundary line he dare not transgress. He
must therefore know precisely the limit, and in no case act until he is sure
that he is within the limit. Here is need for continual exercise, for the line
is not always perceptible at first sight.

God has denounced an emphatic
"Woe unto those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for
light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for
bitter" (Isa. 5:20). There must be no blurring of the moral boundary
lines. We may not put "faith" before "righteousness." We
may not argue, "We believe this is of God and therefore it must be
good." We must argue the other way:"We know from Scripture this is
good, and therefore we know it is of God." "God is light," and
light is that which "does make manifest" (Eph. 5:13). Thus, only as
walking in the light, and with our eye single to take it in, can we walk
without stumbling.

But alas! how common it is to
allow ourselves to participate in something the character of which is uncertain
to us! How many think it enough to stop where they are convicted of evil, rather
than first making sure before they act that what they do is good!

Righteousness always acts in
consistency with our position and relationship. Thus, to show grace is for a
Christian only righteous. The manifestation of grace is not something over and
above what is required of us. Righteousness embraces the whole sphere of
conduct, for "to him who knows to do good and does it not, to him it is
sin" (Jas. 4:17). How solemn, how searching are such words as these!

(From Help and Food, Vol.
8.)

“All Scripture … is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2
Tim. 3:16).

The uses of the Scriptures are
given in this verse. First and foremost they are profitable for teaching, that
is, the revelation of God’s mind for His people.

Second, they are profitable for
reproof or conviction. They are the divine standard, and are “[living] and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12). Therefore, the
character of our conduct or actions is at once discerned by their application.

Third, they are profitable for
correction. They not only convict of sin and failure, but they also point out
the right path for God’s people.

Fourth, they are profitable for
instruction in righteousness. They contain precepts and exhortations applicable
to all the relationships and responsibilities—whether toward God or one
another—in which the believer can possibly be found.

The Word of God is thus the only,
and the all-sufficient, source of instruction for His people.

"And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph … Take your father and your households, and come unto me; and I will
give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land
… Regard not your stuff [or belongings], for the good of all the land
of Egypt is yours" (Gen. 45:17-20).

How much regarding of
"stuff" there is among the people of God today! How much anxiety and
unnecessary concern is manifested among the heirs of glory over the possession
or accumulation of a little of this world’s goods! At best it is but
"stuff." It is not unlawful to possess it; it is the regarding
of it that works the mischief and produces the leanness of soul so common among
the saints of God in this day of unparalleled material prosperity. Pharaoh, to
give weight to his exhortation as to their "stuff," adds, "For
the good of all the land of Egypt is yours." What an offset to anxiety!

John Newton once called to see a
Christian lady who had just lost her comfortable home and all its furnishings
by fire. "I have called to congratulate you, madam," he said, as he
took her hand. She was about to resent what she considered his utter lack of
sympathy and consideration when he added, "Because you have so much
treasure in heaven that fire can never touch." Suppose, dear child of God,
you were to suffer the loss of all your earthly possessions, whether inherited,
or acquired by economy and thrift; what would it matter? Is not heaven and all
its treasures yours? Even Job, when stripped of everything, could say,
"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21)! And shall the Christian in
this day say less?

"Let not your eye regret
your stuff" the JND translation reads. Let the man of the world blow out
his brains or lose his mind when earthly riches make themselves wings and fly
away. It was all the poor man had. But you have treasure in heaven; your
riches are, or should be, invested in a place of absolute security. Let the
banks fail by the wholesale; let panic and financial ruin come when it will. We
believers, like the Hebrew Christians of old, may take "joyfully the
spoiling of [our] goods, knowing in [ourselves] that [we] have in heaven a
better and an enduring substance" (Heb. 10:34).

Hallelujah! We have a song ready
to sing in our darkest hour of temporal need. God our Father had one of His
dear children compose it for His family long ago:"Although the fig tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive
shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from
the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:Yet I will [not trust,
merely, but] rejoice in the LORD, I
will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD
God is my strength, and He will make me to walk upon my high places" (Hab.
3:17-19).

(From A Fruitful Bough,
published by Loizeaux Brothers.)

                                             by Hamilton
Smith

The history of Joseph’s
sufferings is rich with practical instruction for God’s children. First, we see
that Joseph was a submissive man. His circumstances were difficult and his
position trying. Cut off from his family, a stranger in a foreign land, he had
passed from the love of his father’s home to the bondage of the Egyptian’s
house; yet there was no complaining. He harbored no bitter thoughts against his
brethren, uttered no complaints as to his hard lot, nor a single rebellious
word against the ways of God. His spirit was kept in beautiful submission. God
had revealed to him his high destiny (Gen. 37:5-10), and faith, resting in
quiet confidence in God’s word, looked on with clear vision to the glorious end
(see 2 Cor. 4:17,18). Faith kept God and His word between himself and his
circumstances. In the path of God’s purpose he submitted to God’s ways. So the
Apostle Paul, another prisoner of the Lord in another day, in like spirit of
submission, wrote from prison, "The things that happened unto me have
fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel" (Phil. 1:12).

As a result, "the LORD was with Joseph and he was a prosperous
man" (Gen. 39:2). The submissive man will ever be a prosperous man. Human
reasoning would say that slavery and prosperity must be an impossible
combination, but if we submit to His ways, the presence of the LORD can turn days of adversity into days of
prosperity. The whole world would admit that Joseph was a prosperous man in the
day of his exaltation; but faith sees, and God declares, that he was a
prosperous man in the day of his humiliation as well. He would, in due time,
ride prosperously as the ruler of Egypt, but first he must live prosperously as
the slave of an Egyptian. The prosperity of the prison must precede the
prosperity of the palace. The trials and the sorrows, the losses and the
crosses, the rough ways and the dark valleys, will all become occasions of the
greatest soul prosperity if we remember that God has a settled purpose for us
in glory, and in the meantime all His ways with us are in view of His purpose
for us. In the light of His purpose we shall be able to submit to His ways, and
submitting we shall find the Lord with us. If the Lord is with us we shall
prosper with that prosperity that is above all—the prosperity of the soul.
"Beloved," says the aged Apostle, "I wish above all things that
you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers" (3 John 2).

Moreover, being a prosperous man,
Joseph became a witness for the LORD in
the house of bondage. We read, "His master saw that the LORD was with him" (Gen. 39:3). His
testimony, too, was the testimony of his life rather than his lips. Potiphar
was impressed by what he "saw" rather than by what he heard.
"His master saw that the LORD was
with him, and that the LORD made all that
he did to prosper in his hand." Had Joseph been forever complaining of his
hard lot, or enlarging upon his high destiny, he would have been no witness for
the LORD in the house of Potiphar. The
Egyptian cared nothing about his past and would comprehend nothing of his
future; but Joseph’s daily life of wholehearted attention to his duties
Potiphar could see and appreciate. Nor is it otherwise today. For a Christian
employee to be often grumbling at his lot before his unconverted employer, and
saying that the day is coming when he will judge the world and even angels,
would be wholly out of place. To an unconverted employer it would not only be
the wildest folly but also the grossest impertinence. But to see a Christian
employee living a quiet, consistent, uncomplaining life in the faithful
discharge of daily duties is indeed a true witness for the Lord, and is
something that the unconverted employer can appreciate.

The result of Joseph’s faithful,
submissive service was that he "found grace in [Potiphar’s] sight … and
he made him overseer over his house" (verse 4). The result of this, in
turn, was that "the LORD blessed the
Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake" (verse 5). In the measure that we
yield ourselves, our lives, our all, to the supremacy of Christ, we too shall
be blessed, even as the world will be blessed when it submits to His universal
sway.

(From Joseph:Revealer of
Secrets and Saviour of the World, published by Gospel Folio Press, Grand
Rapids, Michigan.)

"By
faith Jacob, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones" (Heb. 11:22).

"And
Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; and God will surely visit you, and bring
you out of this land unto the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will
surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died,
being 110 years old; and thy embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt" (Gen. 50:24-26).

What
did Joseph have to do with the land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob? He lived only 17 of his 110 years in the promised land (Gen. 37:2;
50:26). He made a mark in the world; he became the second most powerful man in
a great nation. But his fame was not connected with "the land" of
promise, but with the nation of Egypt. Given Joseph’s high position in Egypt, no doubt he was worthy of a great monument—perhaps a pyramid—being erected as a long-lasting
memorial to him. But Joseph declined such an honor. While he held a high
position in Egypt, he was not of Egypt (compare John 17:12 and
16). His body was placed in a coffin in Egypt (Gen. 50:26), but he
desired that the final resting place of his bones be in the land of his
fathers. His heart was with his own people—God’s chosen ones—and not those
among whom he served as a great ruler.

What
difference did it make where Joseph’s remains were buried? Along with his
great-grandfather Abraham, he seems to have believed in a future resurrection
(Heb. 11:16). No doubt he believed that his next life would somehow be
connected with the land promised to his forefathers; thus he wanted to be
buried there.

Joseph
showed great faith in this. As far as we know, the LORD did not teach the patriarchs to anticipate resurrection. But He gave
them many experiences that served to direct their thoughts in this direction.
First there was ENOCH who, though not resurrected, was taken up directly to
heaven without dying. Then there was Noah and his family who went through the
waters of death and came out of the ark alive. There were Abraham and Sarah who
had a son after their bodies were reproductively dead (Rom. 4:19). There was
Isaac on the altar ready to be sacrificed, with his father "accounting
that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead" (Heb. 11:19). Then
there were Joseph’s own personal experiences of being "raised
up"—first from the pit into which his brothers had cast him and then from
the prison in Egypt. The second experience, in which he was not only released
from prison but immediately elevated to second in command in the entire nation
was for Joseph a foretaste of a far more blessed resurrection to come.

There
is a lesson of faith in this:Faith does not seek earthly memorials or means
whereby one’s name and reputation will be remembered by future generations.
Rather, faith looks on to "a better country" where the eternal focus
of attention will be the Lord Jesus Christ and the marks of suffering in His
hands, His feet, and His side (Zech. 12:10; Luke 24:39; Rev. 1:7).

In
view of the great faith shown by Joseph throughout his life, it may seem
strange that just this one aspect of his faith is mentioned in Hebrews 11.
However, this desire of Joseph’s at the end of his life surely is
representative of his attitude throughout his life. Whether facing actual death
as in Genesis 50 or facing possible life imprisonment in Egypt, Joseph never seemed to be discouraged or to lose hope. Nor did he have a bitter or
vengeful spirit toward his brothers and others who had treated him wrongfully
(Gen. 50:20). His faith in the LORD was firm and steadfast,
however great the adversity and difficult the circumstances. Because of this,
Joseph was prepared—on each occasion of his deliverance—to do the best he could
in dependence upon the LORD (Gen. 39:2-6; 41:16,25-36). Because of Joseph’s
positive attitude stemming from his faith in the LORD, the LORD greatly prospered him each time.

The
history of Joseph reminds me of a modern-day Joseph whom I first met in a city
jail. Upon his release, this fellow did not return to his old environment, his
old friends, and his old habits as so many released prisoners do. Rather he
moved to a different city, went to college, got a degree in nursing, secured a
good job at a hospital, and became involved in a church fellowship and several
volunteer projects. Then his world collapsed—or so it seemed. The state
legislature passed a law that prohibited convicted felons from being employed
as health professionals. He was not only out of a job; he was out of a career.
But instead of becoming depressed and discouraged, he immediately got on the
phone with some contacts through his volunteer work. He soon had himself an
entry-level job in another field and is now in the process of working his way
up again. Through all of this, he has placed his faith in the Lord and the Lord
has prospered him.

Another
lesson, then, is this:Faith does not become discouraged or vengeful during
times of adversity. Rather, faith prepares one to do the very best—with the
Lord’s help—both during the time of trial and when it is over.

"And Joseph saw his brethren
and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them and spoke roughly
unto them" (Gen. 42:7).

"Joseph made himself
known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud" (Gen. 45:1,2).

We do well to remember that
before Joseph "made himself known" to his brethren, "he made
himself strange unto them." That they might learn the evil of their heart,
he "made himself strange"; that they might learn the love of his
heart, he "made himself known."

Can not many Christians recall a
time in the history of their souls when Christ appeared to make Himself strange
and deal roughly with them as they were left to travel through some dark valley
of soul exercise, there to discover the evil of the flesh within? In such
moments many a dark passage in life’s history will rise up to confront the soul
in all its hideousness and hatefulness, until the cry is wrung from the soul,
"Behold I am vile" (Job 40:4). But even so this is not enough for, as
Job found, there is a deeper lesson to learn; for this we must travel outside
the range of our personal experience until we reach the solemnities of the
cross. There may have been plenty of evil in the lives of Joseph’s brethren,
but if they were to learn the depth of evil in their hearts, they must go back
over 20 years of history to recall their treatment of Joseph when, in the face
of his love as a brother, they hated him, cast him into a pit, and sold him
into Egypt.

So it is with ourselves. Truly we
have to learn that in the flesh is no good thing—that it is irremediably
bad. For this we must go to the cross. As the cross there was the display of
perfect goodness in God and perfect goodness in a Man—the Man Christ Jesus. At
the cross, grace and love and goodness shone out in all their splendor. How did
the flesh act in the presence of perfect goodness? It utterly refused the One
in whom goodness was displayed. It rejected Him, spat in His face, mocked Him
with a crown of thorns, nailed Him to a cross, and cast Him out of the world.
Every one of us was represented at the cross, for every class of man was there,
religious and godless, educated and ignorant, refined and rough. All were
there, and all rejected the Christ of God. Each can say, "There I see my
flesh—myself— brought face to face with perfect goodness, and without
hesitation my flesh—whatever form it takes—declares its utter hatred of
goodness." As one has said, "The sight of a rejected Christ has
discovered myself to myself, the deepest recesses of my heart are laid bare,
and self, horrible self, is there." Learning the flesh experimentally, I
discover its lusts and covetousness, its pride and vanity. In a word, I
discover by bitter experience that the flesh loves evil. But when I come
to the cross I learn a more terrible phase of its character, for there I
discover that the flesh within hates good.

There is a great difference
between learning the character of the flesh experimentally and learning it in
the light of God revealed at the cross. If I only know the flesh as I discover
it in myself, I may be left with the thought that it can be improved. I may
admit that it is vile—that it loves evil—but I may say, "Is it not
possible to improve and reform it?" It is possible to do a great deal for
man in the flesh in the way of cultivation and reformation, but in the end it
is farther from God than ever. This great lesson I learn at the cross. There
Christ was not only the song of the drunkard, but the sober men—
"they who sit in the gate"—spoke against Him (Psa. 69:12). Drunk or
sober, the flesh hates God, and Christ in whom God was expressed. Thus the
cross proves the flesh to be totally, incurably bad. A man who loves sin might
be improved, but a man who hates perfect goodness is beyond improvement. When
we reach this point, we can say with Job, not only "I am vile," but
"I abhor myself." We do not abhor a man, however vile, if he is
endeavoring to overcome his evil; we rather admire such a one. But when a man
is proven to be bad beyond all hope of improvement we rightly abhor him. To
this Job had to come. We, too, in the light of the cross, must reach this point
when we give ourselves up as hopelessly bad.

But when, like Job in his day and
Joseph’s brothers in their day, we have learned the evil of our own hearts,
with what relief we turn from self to Christ. How He delights to set us free by
making Himself known in all the grace of His heart. We may well be appalled as
we discover the evil of our hearts. But Christ reveals to us His heart and
tells us that He loves us, though knowing all the evil of our hearts. He draws
us to Himself and discloses to us the desire of His heart to have us in His
company. He gives us to behold His glory and to hear His voice. Thus the
torments of fear are ended by perfect love—the love that casts out fear (1 John
4:18)—and the soul no longer grieves over the evil within and the future is no
longer dark with dismal forebodings. Instead, in the consciousness of Christ’s
infinite love to us, we can hold sweet communion with Him, after the manner of
Joseph’s brethren who "talked with him" (Gen. 45:15).

(From Joseph:Revealer of
Secrets and Saviour of the World, published by Gospel Folio Press, Grand Rapids , Michigan.)

                                          by Christopher
Knapp

"And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph … Take your father and your households, and come unto me; and I will
give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land
… Regard not your stuff [or belongings], for the good of all the land
of Egypt is yours" (Gen. 45:17-20).

How much regarding of
"stuff" there is among the people of God today! How much anxiety and
unnecessary concern is manifested among the heirs of glory over the possession
or accumulation of a little of this world’s goods! At best it is but
"stuff." It is not unlawful to possess it; it is the regarding
of it that works the mischief and produces the leanness of soul so common among
the saints of God in this day of unparalleled material prosperity. Pharaoh, to
give weight to his exhortation as to their "stuff," adds, "For
the good of all the land of Egypt is yours." What an offset to anxiety!

John Newton once called to see a
Christian lady who had just lost her comfortable home and all its furnishings
by fire. "I have called to congratulate you, madam," he said, as he
took her hand. She was about to resent what she considered his utter lack of
sympathy and consideration when he added, "Because you have so much
treasure in heaven that fire can never touch." Suppose, dear child of God,
you were to suffer the loss of all your earthly possessions, whether inherited,
or acquired by economy and thrift; what would it matter? Is not heaven and all
its treasures yours? Even Job, when stripped of everything, could say,
"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21)! And shall the Christian in
this day say less?

"Let not your eye regret
your stuff" the JND translation reads. Let the man of the world blow out
his brains or lose his mind when earthly riches make themselves wings and fly
away. It was all the poor man had. But you have treasure in heaven; your
riches are, or should be, invested in a place of absolute security. Let the
banks fail by the wholesale; let panic and financial ruin come when it will. We
believers, like the Hebrew Christians of old, may take "joyfully the
spoiling of [our] goods, knowing in [ourselves] that [we] have in heaven a
better and an enduring substance" (Heb. 10:34).

Hallelujah! We have a song ready
to sing in our darkest hour of temporal need. God our Father had one of His
dear children compose it for His family long ago:"Although the fig tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive
shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from
the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:Yet I will [not trust,
merely, but] rejoice in the LORD, I
will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD
God is my strength, and He will make me to walk upon my high places" (Hab.
3:17-19).

(From A Fruitful Bough,
published by Loizeaux Brothers.)

Tamar
was Judah’s daughter-in-law. When her husband died, Judah promised to let her
marry his younger son Shelah. "And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold your
father-in-law [Judah] goes up to Timnath to shear his sheep. And she put her
widow’s garment off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself,
and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that
Shelah [Judah’s son] was grown and she was not given unto him to wife. When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot … and came in unto her, and she conceived by
him" (Gen. 38:13-18).

Samson
"loved a woman … whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the
Philistines came up unto her and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his
great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may
bind him to afflict him; and we will give you every one of us 1100 pieces of
silver … And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and
she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head" (Judg. 16:4-19).

Although
Tamar and Delilah lived at different times and had different ethnic
backgrounds, they were both guilty of the same sin. Both used sexual
attractiveness to manipulate a man to do what she wanted him to do. Tamar,
perhaps, had a better motive (desire for a son) than Delilah (desire for
money), but they were both wrong.

This
sin is still frequently committed today. We all know or have heard of young
women who have deliberately become pregnant before marriage so as to compel the
father of the child to marry them. Tamar and Delilah both were guilty of the
sin of fornication or adultery. But there was more to it than that. It was a
kind of sin that even married women can commit against their own husbands.

Married
women can commit the sin of using sex as a tool or club (by offering or
withholding sexual intimacy) to get what they want. What scripture do we have
to say this is wrong? "The wife has not power of her own body, but the
husband; and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the
wife" (1 Cor. 7:4). In other words, once we are married, our bodies do not
belong to ourselves but to our spouses; our bodies are not to be used for our
own selfish purposes but to comfort, encourage, and cherish our spouses. This
verse is directed to men as well as women, although men do not usually use the
promise of or denial of sexual intimacy as a manipulative tool. They are more
likely to use declarations of love (before marriage) or control and commands
(before and after marriage) to get what they want. Any kind of manipulation or
selfishness in marriage is forbidden.

So,
all the biblical commands concerning adultery and fornication, if obeyed by all
Christian men and women, would prevent much of the manipulation of either sex
by the other; and using our bodies as instruments only of love and never of
selfishness after marriage will prevent much of the hurt, bitterness, and
resentment that often arises in marriage. If our long-term goals are a good
marriage and personal holiness, let us not sabotage those goals by misusing our
bodies to obtain much less important short-term goals.