Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · The Fathers
Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, and yet the narrator keeps repeating one quiet refrain: Yahweh was with him, in Potiphar's house and in the prison alike. Years later Joseph can say that his brothers' evil and God's sending were both true at once: 'you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good', to save many people alive. His story shows providence working through real human wickedness, not around it, and a forgiveness that refuses revenge.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/what-was-god-doing-in-josephs-slavery · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Genesis 37:23-36
As you read: The cold arithmetic of the sale, and what the narrator does and does not say about God while it happens.
23When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him;
24and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.
25They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
26Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him.
28Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.
29Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
30He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?”
31They took Joseph’s coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.
32They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son’s coat or not.”
33He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.”
34Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
35All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning.” His father wept for him.
36The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.
Genesis 45:4-15
As you read: How Joseph interprets his own story when he finally names himself: sent, not sold; preservation, not payback.
4Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” They came near. “He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
5Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
7God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.
8So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait.
10You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.
11There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’
12Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
13You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.”
14He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.
15He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.
Genesis 50:15-21
As you read: Joseph's theology in a single sentence after Jacob dies, and how he treats the brothers who wronged him.
15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him.”
16They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying,
17‘You shall tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
19Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.
21Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.
Judah's logic is chillingly practical: 'Come, and let's sell him to the Ishmaelites.' They pulled seventeen-year-old Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver, then dipped his robe in blood and told their father a lie. The Bible never pretends the brothers were secretly doing God's will; what they did was evil, and Genesis records it as evil.
“Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.”Genesis 37:26-28
“The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.”Genesis 37:36
In prosperity we read that 'Yahweh was with Joseph'; in the dungeon we read it again, that 'Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him'. The narrator marks God's presence not by Joseph's comfort but by His nearness in both places. Slavery and prison never canceled it, which is exactly why Stephen could sum up the whole story by saying God was with him.
“Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian. His master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did prosper in his hand.”Genesis 39:2-3
“But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”Genesis 39:21
““The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him,”Acts 7:9
When Joseph reveals himself, he does not erase his brothers' guilt; he places it inside a larger intention. 'It wasn't you who sent me here, but God': both actors are real, human malice and divine purpose, and the second is not an excuse for the first but sovereign over it. God did not need the brothers' sin, yet He wove even their sin into the rescue plan.
“Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”Genesis 45:5
“So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”Genesis 45:8
“A man’s heart plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps.”Proverbs 16:9
God's sending had a stated aim: 'to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.' The family through whom all nations would be blessed was one famine away from extinction in a famine, and God positioned a despised brother on the throne of Egypt to feed them. The promise to Abraham survived because Joseph suffered.
“God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.”Genesis 45:7
“I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.””Genesis 12:3
With power fully in his hands, Joseph weeps instead of settling accounts. 'Am I in the place of God?', he asks; judgment belongs to God, so he takes up nourishment instead: 'I will nourish you and your little ones.' He comforted them and spoke kindly to them. That is what it looks like when someone trusts God's justice enough to stop demanding his own.
“Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.”Genesis 50:19-21