Saturday
Saturday
Joseph and the Providence of God
Joseph said … “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”
Genesis 50:20
The Old Testament sometimes teaches several lessons from the same events. The story of Joseph is a notable case in point. Firstly, a lesson in history. Through the clash of empires (secular history), God has been working out the story of his own people (“salvation history”). The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reconfirmed his covenant in each generation. But now in Jacob’s old age God’s purpose was threatened by famine. So Jacob sent his sons to buy grain in Egypt. As Joseph was to say to them later, “God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (45:7).
Secondly, a lesson in providence. Joseph was the victim of a series of injustices. He was successively captured, sold, enslaved, falsely accused, imprisoned without trial, and forgotten by his fellow prisoners, who had promised to speak up for him. Yet even through these evils God was at work for good. As Joseph said to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good … the saving of many lives” (50:20).
Thirdly, a lesson in forgiveness. Joseph could have reacted to his brothers either in revenge or in cheap forgiveness. Instead, he put their apparent repentance to the test. He took his younger brother Benjamin as a hostage. It was a dramatic moment. The brothers had sacrificed Joseph; would they now sacrifice Benjamin? No! Judah came forward and pleaded for the boy’s release, even offering himself for slavery as a substitute. What a transformation had come over Joseph’s brothers! Their repentance was evidently real. Joseph was satisfied. So he made himself known to them and demonstrated his forgiveness by embracing them.
For further reading: Genesis 50:15–21