God’s presence brings a sense of blessing to individuals and to the place where they live. If we examine the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament we find something interesting.

The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had (1 Chronicles 13:14).

The Ark, which represented God’s presence, brought prosperity wherever it went. So if God’s people prosper, then the cities in which they live can prosper too.

Joseph’s prosperity affected the places he lived. Earlier in the blog we looked at the life of Joseph and saw that he had a prosperous soul. He often encountered opposition, but he always found a way to prosper. In addition, whatever physical location Joseph was in seemed to prosper as well; first Potiphar’s household, then the prison where Joseph stayed and finally the whole nation of Egypt. Let’s take a closer look: his brothers sold him as a slave to a traveling caravan when he was a teenager. From there he was traded off as a slave to an Egyptian official named Potiphar. This presented a huge challenge, but not for long, as we read in Genesis.

 The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate (Genesis 39:2-6).

Potiphar saw the blessing in Joseph’s life and it convinced him to put his whole household in Joseph’s hands. He saw that everything he put under Joseph’s authority multiplied and prospered. Potiphar entrusted everything he had to Joseph’s care. Eventually, he did not even know how much money he had anymore. God’s blessing on Joseph was making Potiphar rich. That is the Biblical truth.