"Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, for God sent me before you to preserve life... God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God..."
Did Joseph just block out the past? Was it so traumatizing that all the facts have become blurred and to cope he has rewritten his mental history? If you look back at Genesis 37:25-28 there is no mention of God doing anything, only jealous brothers who seized an opportunity to betray their brother and sell him into slavery to a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way to trade down in Egypt. Who can find God anywhere in that evil scheme?
But the fact remains, Joseph did. In fact later in Genesis 50:20 Joseph shows that his comprehension of those distant events was indeed not sugar-coated at all. He knew what his brothers had done. "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."
How can Joseph say at one point that the brothers with evil motives sent him to Egypt and speaking of the same event say that God in His goodness sent him? Are not these two totally opposite? How are they then both true as Scripture purports? Notice, Scripture doesn't say that the brothers did this wicked thing and that God then made the best of it in Egypt. The Bible says God sovereignly participated in this event of sending Joseph to Egypt. This was not reactive but proactive.
This is an example of what theologians call "compatibilist freedom" and it falls within the framework of the sovereignty of God. (For a basic understanding go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compatibilism) Simply put, God and man with completely different motives can, and do, participate in an event to bring about a result which both desired.
Do you remember all the way back to Genesis 15:13? "God said to Abram, 'Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.'" This was way before Abram even has Isaac and God is foreshadowing this trip to Egypt in Genesis 46. It was a part of His plan. And it was not only for Israel, but also that Israel might be an archetype of Christ so that Matthew declares of Christ in Matt 2:15, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." In the Old Testament this reference is clearly in reference to Israel, but Matthew realizes that Israel's history points to Christ's life and ministry. The point being that God participates somehow in every event in history. He sovereignly acts to bring about His plans through the good and the bad. He never sits back and just watches things unfold hoping things turn out the way He wants.
And it is clear that this is what brings comfort to Joseph and should bring comfort to us all. To know that God is there in every action, working all things for the good of those who believe. Even when evil comes, it is never pointless. We are never at the mercy of gratuitous evil. Rather, we are always in the hands of a perfect Sovereign God who has a master plan which can never be foiled. Therefore we are able to praise God in the lush valleys or the barren deserts of our lives. Again, that brings peace. This is the offer of Christianity. No wonder we are supposed to look different from the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment