Introduction 

Christians and other religious people make a big deal about morality and people avoiding immoral activities. They have been known to follow the instructions of Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 for a believer found sleeping with his father’s wife. “…hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” Too often, though, these churches fail to follow through with the apostle’s instruction to bring the chastened man back into fellowship (2 Corinthians 2:5-8). These churches don’t realize that God Almighty works through people’s immoral actions to bring about His purposes. These people were serving the Master with immoral actions.

Joseph in Egypt

The son of Jacob found himself in slavery in Egypt. Yahweh was with him and he served Potiphar then his jailer well. Both households prospered under Joseph’s management.

In Yahweh’s good time, Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and was put in charge of preparing all of Egypt to survive the coming seven years of famine. During those terrible years, Joseph brought all of Egypt’s land and livestock under Pharaoh’s control. Then he brought all the Egyptians into slavery to Pharaoh (Genesis 47:13-21).

I always thought that strange. Western civilization is against slavery (though the sex industry makes a market for trafficking and slavery). We Americans fought a civil war to free blacks from slavery. William Wilberforce and other believers in Britain fought politically to eradicate slavery in the British empire. Why would God’s man in Pharaoh’s court bring the Egyptian people into slavery to him?

Joseph was in Egypt to save the known world from starvation. He brought his family to Egypt for the same purpose. God’s purposes required His people to become slaves after Joseph died. He could then deliver them and make a nation of their tribes under His reign. My point today is that Joseph took the immoral action of bringing the Egyptians into slavery in order to further Yahweh’s purposes for His people.

Tamar 

The daughter- in-law of Judah used deception and prostitution to preserve her dead husband’s lineage and property. When Yahweh killed Er for his wickedness, Judah called on his second son to marry Tamar and beget a son for his older brother. 

Onan refused, taking pleasure in her body but spilling his seed on the ground. For this wickedness, Yahweh killed him as well. This left Shelah, Judah’s third son, to do the deed. Being young and the one remaining son, Judah told Tamar to wait for him to grow up.

When Shelah was grown, Judah refused to give him into Tamar’s arms. So, the daughter- in-law put on the veils of a prostitute and waylaid her father- in-law. He got her pregnant then ordered her burned for her dishonorable behavior. 

Tamar brought out the evidence that Judah himself was the father of her twins. The patriarch declared that she was more righteous than himself. Her son, Perez, and Tamar herself were named in the lineage of God’s Anointed. 

Rahab 

Scholars debate whether Rahab was a mere prostitute or an inn keeper in the wall of Jericho when two spies came from Israel to case the city. In any case, she hid the spies from the king’s pursuit. She solicited a promise from them that her family would be spared the destruction of the city. They gave her a red cord to hang out her window so the Israelite soldiers would avoid them. This sex worker, later the mother of Ruth’s Boaz, saved her family and was named in the lineage of God’s Anointed.

Ruth 

When Naomi returned to her home town of Bethlehem, mourning the deaths of her husband and sons, her daughter- in-law Ruth insisted on remaining with her. Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz to get food for her and Naomi, and he acted kindly toward her.

At the time of threshing the harvest, her mother-  in-law told Ruth to approach Boaz about being their kinsman- redeemer. The young woman uncovered his feet during sleep and told him, “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian (kinsman)- redeemer of our family. (Ruth 3:7-9)”

Ruth’s action and request were understood to be euphemisms for having sex with her so that Boaz would marry her and redeem her husband’s property for him. Again, her seemingly immoral behavior led her to become the grandmother of King David and put her name in the lineage of God’s Anointed One.

Immorality Used for God’s Purposes

Each “immoral” woman used sex to do what she believed was right, and she furthered the purposes of Yahweh. Joseph used the “immoral” institution of slavery to also further the Almighty’s will.

Is the Bible supposed to echo the moral dilemmas of people today? Do modern people face choices unknown to their ancient ancestors? Maybe in scale, but not in the nature and quality of their actions. 

Paul called on believers who were slaves to serve their Roman masters as though they served the Master (Ephesians 6:5-8). I’m sure that meant some performed sexual services for their owners. Though required to do immoral acts, Paul said they could reign in life through God’s Anointed (Romans 5:17).