Joseph said to [his brothers], “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:19–22, NIV).
My Musings – All the misfortunes that befell Joseph were the result of his brothers’ intent many years prior.
You intended to harm me. “Come now, let’s kill [Joseph] and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him.” (Genesis 37:20, NIV 1984). Although his oldest brother Reuben “tried to rescue him from their hands.” (Genesis 37:21, NIV 1984). In the end, they decided to sell him to the Midianites. “After all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” (Genesis 37:27, NIV 1984). Almost sounds like they thought they should be commended.
But they likely knew Joseph would be sold as a slave in Egypt in order for the Midianites to make a profit. That was their sin against Joseph. But he was not the only one hurt. “They got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood [and] took the ornamented robe back to their father>” (Genesis 37:31–32, NIV 1984). They allowed Israel to believe that “some ferocious animal [had] devoured him.” (Genesis 37:33, NIV 1984). Grieving over his favorite son, “[Israel] refused to be comforted,” saying, “in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son.” (Genesis 37:35, NIV 1984). The offense was also against God. “Whatever you [did or] did not do for one of the least of these, you [did or] did not do for me.” (Matthew 25:45, NIV 1984).
God intended it for good. “Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” (Genesis 45:5–8, NIV 1984). So, God turned the evil intent of Joseph’s brothers and used it to “preserve for [Himself] a remnant.”
“And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, ‘Jacob! Jacob!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ‘I am God, the God of your father,’ he said. ‘Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.'” (Genesis 46:2–4, NIV 1984). Back to the land He promised as an inheritance.
My Advice – “A great deliverance.” Orchestrated by God. Taking misfortune and turning it into a “the saving of many lives.” Speaking of great deliverances, “{Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25, NIV 1984). Don’t ignore what God has done for us. For, “how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3, NIV 1984). Why would we ever want to ignore the saving of our lives?
The Brew Is A Musing 