Sin, Death and Joseph (Gen 38, 39)

I made the following observations about sin and death, and sin's consequences while reading Genesis 37-39 today.

Concerning sin and death, the Bible says people die because of their sin:

"Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life" (Gen 38:7).

Onan "was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also" (Gen 38:10).

Now, this is not the only reason people die, but this is one of the reasons. And, this is not just the Old Testament as 1 Corinthians 11:30 and 1 John 5:16 say the same thing: God, the One who "puts to death and gives life" (Deut 32:39), kills people because of their sin.

And, concerning sin, it's consequences and how to fight it, remind yourself of Joseph and Potiphar's wife:

"Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, 'Lie with me.' But he refused and said to his master's wife, 'Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?' As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her" (Gen 37:6-10).

Joseph fought sin by filling his mind with what sin is (namely, a "great evil"), who its against (horizontally Potiphar, and vertically God), and it's consequences (vv. 8-9, also horizontal and vertical). As a result, he kept himself from being anywhere near where this sin could take place (v. 10). The truths of verses 8-9 motivated him to take the action he did in verse 10.

Also, despite being aware of the horizontal benefits Potiphar showed him, the bottom line for Joseph was he refused to sin because he'd be sinning against God. Sadly, I don't think of that reality until after I've sinned.