God's Good Purposes 15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: 17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. The Death of Joseph 22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. After the death of their father, the brothers imagined that Joseph might finally try to get his revenge after all these years of taking care of them as guilt had been eating away at them for so long and they knew what they deserved--and probably because they knew what they would have done if they were in Joseph's place. However, Joseph was a man that understood that he was a man in need of forgiveness and that he needed to forgive in the same measure that he wished to be forgiven (a principle that Jesus would teach us in the New Testament but we see all throughout the Old Testament).
The brothers went to Joseph and tried to put words in their dead father's mouth saying that he told them to ask that Joseph please forgive them--we see no such conversation and I'm fairly certain it didn't happen because Jacob had plenty of time to give final instructions regarding this matter to Joseph during the long conversation that he had with him and his sons when he spoke to them first if this was on his mind. Furthermore they suddenly view themselves as "servants of the God of your father." Maybe at least some of them have had a transformation, but we know that Joseph has been the one used of God throughout this story to bring about salvation for the nation of Egypt and the nation of Israel (though it is not yet a nation--that will happen in the book of Exodus). About the only thing I believe out of everything they said was when they fell down before him and said, "We are your servants," because they realized that he was in authority over them--though even this is probably laughable (and sad) to Joseph because they are his family and he probably would never make his brothers bow down to him again after the first couple encounters with them where he remembered the dream that God had given to him. I'm also interested why Benjamin would go along with this at all, because he had no part in what happened to Joseph, and Joseph had done nothing but spoil his little brother and treat him like one of his own sons--maybe even a little better. Even though they had no evidence to jump to this conclusion I again this this has everything to do with their guilty consciences and what they know they would do if the roles were reversed, which does not speak very highly of any of these children of Israel whom God has chosen to make a people out of for Himself or from whom His Messiah would come-but that's just like God to work things out in a way that only He can so that He gets the glory for it. He takes dirty, rotten sinners like you and me and transforms us into a new creation and makes us into the likeness of His Son so that we may be the image bearers of God that we were always meant to be--becoming temples of the Holy Spirit and letting God live in and through us. Joseph answers his brothers in a similar fashion to say one of the most profound statements ever in the entire Bible, and it's one of those verses that people love to hang on their wall that seems to sum up so much of the Bible (and all of history for that matter) in just a few words--"...You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good...." His answer is actually much more than this, but this reminds me of another verse from the book of Romans with a similar meaning that many like to quote, "28 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). That passage in the book of Romans is even more rich if you include verses 29-39. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:28-39) We do not see any more of the story from here other than we know that Joseph continued to care for his brothers and their children and grandchildren and their great-grandchildren until he died at the age of 110. Joseph spoke ones more to his brothers as a prophet of God--we have seen him fulfill the roles of prophet speaking to man for God, priest as he intercedes to God on behalf of the people, and king as he rules over the people to bring God's law and order to the kingdom. He lets the Israelites know that God will not leave them in Egypt, but He will one day return them to the land of Canaan (just like He promised to Moses so many years ago). Joseph believed God would do this and made the Israelites promise to take his bones with them when they left and for this Joseph is included in the "Hall of Faith" in Hebrews 11, "22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones." After this God is going to be silent for about 400 years until a very special child will be born that will be the deliverer for his people to take them out of their bondage and lead them into the Promised Land? Does that sound even slightly familiar to you, maybe like what Jesus did for us spiritually? There will be many connections between the next main character in the biblical narrative, Moses--the mediator of the Old Covenant--and Jesus--the mediator of the New Covenant. As we press on through the Old Testament pay attention to what is the same and what is different. On one hand God is making a physical nation for Himself with culture, boundaries, laws, borders, and customs. How is this similar to Christ building the Church and what can we learn from the Old Covenant that is still applicable to the New Covenant? What things were simply there to point to Christ which have already been fulfilled in Him? What parallels are there for us in how God commands us to remember what He has done and how this changes the very language that we use to refer to God and worship Him? Why is it that there was so much death and cleansing needed to approach God and why did the people still worship from far off and why is it that we can now "Boldly approach the throne of grace." as it says in Hebrews 4:16? Do we forget something about the holiness of God and what it means to be holy and what it means when He tells us, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." and what it means to be called "HOLY TO THE LORD" and to be members of a holy, royal priesthood? We don't really understand these commands and promises and the extent of our ministry unless we dig deep into the Old Testament to understand these beautiful words, so that is where I plan to go next--though there are also other places that I wish to go and may find the Lord leads me other places too as I desire to speak to you about what is going on in the world today and our cries for both justice and mercy. I ask that you bear with me as we not only study the story of the nation of Israel but our story of a people saved from the bondage of sin, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and lad through the wilderness of life where one day we will cross the Jordan River in death and enter into the Promised Land of heaven (our Canaan)--the New Jerusalem promised in the book of Revelation.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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