City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. 4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.

Genesis 45:1-10

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Reflection

Joseph told his brothers not to be grieved or angry with themselves for selling him into slavery “because God sent me before you to preserve life” (See v. 5). This is a remarkable verse because it’s describing a wicked act by which Joseph’s brothers had sold him into slavery that is concurrent with God’s sovereign hand in bringing Joseph to Egypt.

Does this mean God tempted Joseph’s brothers to throw him into a pit and then sell him into slavery? James warned against drawing such a conclusion saying, “Let not man say he is tempted of God…”(See James 1:13). Perhaps it is possible that after they decided to throw Joseph into the pit that God influenced Judah to persuade his brothers to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelite’s, thereby preserving his life and fulfilling God’s plan to get Joseph to Egypt (See Genesis 37:26-27).

I don’t know if this means God sees in advance what wicked things we will do and still weaves them into accomplishing His will, or whether it is possible for us to exercise free will and God predestines in the same act in space and time. 

What I do know with absolute metaphysical certainty is that there are some things we, in our finite humanity, cannot understand. I can gesture and explain all I want to my cat about why he shouldn’t scratch on the furniture, but he will never understand why. It is beyond his ability as a cat. There are also things—like predestination and the sovereignty of God—that we cannot fully understand this side of heaven. Instead we are left with what God has said to us through His Word which is that we are fully responsible for our acts and yet He is fully sovereign. 

But if we can get to that point, there is a blessing that comes from embracing God’s sovereignty, and it’s illustrated beautifully in this story of Joseph and his brothers. 

The blessing is that Joseph was able to forgive and release his brothers from what they had done to him because he saw the sovereignty of God in it. Had Joseph stumbled over free will vs. predestination or how God could be sovereign in all his brothers’ shenanigans, he might not have been able to forgive them and be fully reconciled to them. Instead, Joseph was able to look at what most would have seen as a sound basis for an offense against his brothers and instead see in it a solid foundation for trusting a sovereign God.

Application

We are all a product of our own story’s experiences, some of which were good and some of which were bad. Some were initiated by people influenced by the Spirit of God urging them to love or show kindness to us, while others were initiated by people influenced by wickedness or the demonic seeking to hurt or destroy us. But the Lord orchestrates all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (See Romans 8:28).

Understanding that frees us to love and forgive others.

Prayer

Lord, help me to see Your sovereign hand in my life, so I can more freely love and forgive others. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.