Potiphar & Potiphar's Wife - Lynchpins to Your Exaltation

A few days ago, the Lord said “Potiphar’s wife” to me while I was praying. I also felt like I heard the word “lynchpin.” Since I knew Potiphar was the Egyptian official who bought Joseph as a slave and his wife was the one who wrongfully accused him of attacking her, I looked up the story to see what it was that God wanted to highlight.

If you’re not familiar with the story, in Genesis 39, Joseph has just been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders that his brother sold him to out of jealousy. Once they arrived there, they sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the palace guard. As we read the story in this chapter, the Scripture tells us that the Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did. In fact, Potiphar notices this about Joseph, so he makes him his personal assistant and puts him in charge of his entire household. The Lord continued to bless and Potiphar as well (since he was in charge of his household), so Potiphar ends up giving Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned.

Things are going great for Joseph, except by verse 7, he runs into some trouble when Potiphar’s wife takes a liking to him and begins to come on to him. Joseph does the right thing and repeatedly turns her down. But, one day, after she grabbed him and demanded that he sleep with her, he tore himself away from her and ran away. So, she tells her servants (and later Potiphar) that Joseph had actually tried to rape her and when she screamed, he ran away and left his cloak behind. Needless to say, Potiphar was furious and ends up throwing Joseph in prison, where he’ll end up spending several years.

While Joseph is in prison, the Lord is with him again and makes him a favorite of the warden, so he is put in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened there. Eventually, while in prison, Joseph interprets dreams for Pharaoh’s baker and cup-bearer. He asks the cup-bearer to remember him after he’s set free and although he forgets for two full years, he eventually remembers him when Pharaoh is requesting someone to interpret his dream for him. The cup-bearer mentions Joseph, they immediately bring him to Pharaoh where he interprets his dreams and as a result, Pharaoh puts him in charge of his court and the entire land of Egypt. Only Pharaoh himself had a higher ranking, with Joseph his second-in-command.

Holy Spirit reminded me of the word “lynchpin,” which I looked up and the definition is: a vitally important person or essential element. That day, He was speaking to me particularly about Potiphar’s wife, so He elaborated, “At the time, Potiphar’s wife seemed like an unfair thing that led to hardship, but it was actually the lynchpin that set him up for exaltation!”

When Potiphar’s wife accused him, he ended up in prison. Because he was there, he was able to interpret the dream of the cup-bearer, which set him up to be called on by the Pharaoh and given a leadership position over Egypt. If she had never accused him, the rest of those things would not have happened. She was a lynchpin to him ending up in the palace.

This morning, He brought this story up again during prayer. But, this time, He just said, “Potiphar.” When I asked Him to elaborate, He gave me this rhema word:

“Potiphar is the essence of man - in control of possessions and wealth. He does with them as he sees it. But, I am bigger than that. Just as I had him give his possessions over to Joseph, so I will do with you. There is much lack of wealth in the Kingdom right now, but the tides are changing. There is a rising up of finances that are being used for Kingdom purposes. No longer will wealth only be enjoyed by those in the world. As Potiphar rose Joseph up, so will others rise up those in My Kingdom. They will be put in positions they did not earn and enjoy riches they did not accumulate. So the riches have been sown by someone else, they will be gathered by those - My trusted few. As vessels for Me, you will disperse what I give you as I see fit. And you will be blessed in the process. It is an honor to be trusted in this way, trusted by the Lord. He sees you, He knows your good deeds. And He knows He can use you to accomplish His purposes. For His Kingdom come on earth, as it is in Heaven - in this very day and the days to come.”

I felt the Holy Spirit highlight Proverbs 13:22, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.” (ESV)

He also highlighted several key points from the story of Joseph, Potiphar and Potiphar’s wife:

• Both Potiphar and Potiphar’s wife played an integral role in Joseph’s exaltation. They were both lynchpins, meaning they were essential to Joseph’s eventual reign in the palace. Even though they both seemed to serve Joseph an unfair break, they were all part of God’s bigger plan. So, we can trust when similar seemingly unfair things happen to us that God is using them for a bigger purpose.

• What advanced Joseph was: 1) the Lord’s favor on him, 2) Joseph using what he already had - the ability to interpret dreams and 3) Joseph working with excellence - no matter what he was put in charge of or what position he was put in, he worked at it with his best effort. It was not about Joseph striving for the palace. He simply trusted the Lord, did his best and used what he had. And when we do the same, the Lord will often make us the solution to a problem! We will simply be doing what we know, but God will put us in a position where that skill/talent/ability will lead us to our destiny.

• The Lord never left Joseph. He was always with him, even in the prison cell.

• In God’s perfect timing, He put Joseph on the mind and lips of the cup-bearer. The Lord will often do this - bring you to someone’s remembrance and put you on the mind and the lips of someone who is in a position to bless you. Joseph didn’t have to do anything - God was the one who reminded the cup-bearer while Joseph sat in prison.

  A similar occurrence happens in 2 Kings 8, when the Shunammite woman (whose son Elisha had brought back to life) has just returned from being in the land of the Philistines for 7 years and she’s on her way to ask the king to help her get her house and land back. At that very moment, God has the king and Gehazi talking about the great things Elisha had done. So, when she walks in, Gehazi says, “This is her!” The king (who is in a position to bless her), asks her what she wants and not only helps her get her house and land back, but orders that she receive all the harvests of her land from the day she left to the present as well.

You may be in a position now (or have been in the past) that seemed unfair. Where you were wrongly accused and as a result, were put in a “prison” or a season of desperation and isolation. But, take heart and trust that just like Joseph and Potiphar, the Lord is using every part of your journey to raise you up to the position He has had for you all along. Trust Him and be thankful for the lynchpins along the way!

To receive new prophetic words and blog posts by email, sign up here!